


Modern Age

by TheSassBrit



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Cullen being awkward, F/F, F/M, Fluff without Plot, M/M, Tessa being awkward, all the awkwardness, and scarecrow costumes are cute
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-16
Updated: 2016-06-26
Packaged: 2018-03-30 18:14:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 23,681
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3946747
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSassBrit/pseuds/TheSassBrit
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Modern Universe drabbles featuring the LIs with their loved ones</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Corn Maze

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I’m sort of kind of lost in this creepy corn maze, and it has a million jump scares, please hold my hand.” AU

Cullen was undoubtedly lost and pissed beyond belief. 

All of his friends had managed to drag him to the local pumpkin patch for the haunted corn maze and it was Halloween night. The jump scares were horrible and he somehow managed to lose sight of Alistair, Alistair’s girlfriend, Eryn, and the rest of their group. Cullen honestly wouldn’t have been surprised if they decided to ditch him on purpose to see how long it took for him to get out. 

Eryn Cousland and Marian Hawke were notorious pranksters and their whole group always egged them on. 

So, in short, Cullen was friends with a bunch of assholes. 

He turned around yet another corner and he let out a grunt of surprise when someone ran into him…literally. He managed to keep his balance and he stared down at that someone. Big, heavily lashed eyes looked up at him and they were glazed over with tears. The girl straightened the big, floppy hat she was wearing and she looked around in almost a panic. 

Cullen looked and saw that one of the employees dressed up as a strange mixture of Freddy Krueger and a zombie was right behind her. Cullen glared at the kid until he slunk away to annoy someone else. 

He looked down at the girl and saw that she was trembling and looking around warily, adjusting the strap of the overalls she was wearing. “Are you alright?” he asked, trying to forget how annoyed he was. 

“Y-Yeah, I just need to find my friends. I think they ditched me, those jerks,” she grumbled. She let out a loud gasp when another employee leapt out of the corn with a shriek. Cullen stiffened when she stepped closer to him, almost hiding behind his frame. 

Cullen scowled at that employee too. 

“Do you want to walk together? I know my friends ditched me,” he suggested, wincing as a strobe light went off nearby. 

The girl sighed in what he hoped was relief. “Thank you. I’m normally not this jumpy, I just have never been in this kind of corn maze before,” she said sheepishly, tucking some hair behind her ear. 

Cullen hummed in response and tried to remember which direction he was trying to get to. He could see the tall light posts near the entrance and he started to walk in that general direction. “I didn’t catch your name,” he said, stepping to the side as a large group of teenagers ran by.

The girl was stepping close to him again to avoid being trampled. “Tessa. You?”

“Cullen.”

Tessa looked up at him and Cullen wished there weren’t so many damn strobe lights. He couldn’t get a good glimpse of what she looked like. She shrieked when the Freddy Krueger asshole from before stuck his face out right beside her from the corn stalks. 

Cullen glared at the guy again and quickly tugged on Tessa’s hand and to get away from the prick. 

“I swear to God he’s following me. What the hell?” she hissed, staying close to Cullen’s back. 

Cullen frowned, knowing how girls are sometimes targeted in places like this. “Just stay close to me, and don’t let go of my hand. I think we’re close.”

“Okay.” 

Cullen had to give it to her, for looking as scared as she was, she sounded brave. 

Then again, he didn’t know how he would respond if some asshole targeted him like that. 

They were, in fact, not close at all and it took them maybe another 15 minutes to finally reach the end. Freddy Krueger showed up 3 more times in that time span and Cullen felt bad for the girl he was dragging behind him. 

They finally walked out into the open and Cullen turned to say goodbye and his mind froze. 

He couldn’t see much in the maze and the strobe lights couldn’t truly reveal anything to him before. Her big eyes were a unique violet color even under the weak light of the posts nearby. Her strawberry blonde hair fell in soft, gentle waves to the middle of her back and her full lips were pulled up in a grateful smile. 

She was actually really pretty and she looked adorable in the Scarecrow costume she was wearing. She straightened her floppy hat again and she took a deep breath. “Thank you, Cullen. I would have been stuck in there forever without you.”

He nodded, trying to kick his brain back into gear so he could actually say something. 

She pouted cutely and looked around, letting out a sigh of exasperation. “Of course they aren’t out here,” she grumbled. 

Cullen thought about Freddy Krueger again and he frowned when he saw the asshole hiding near the entrance. He grabbed Tessa’s hand again and said, “Don’t look now, but your admirer is nearby.”

He pulled her further away from the entrance toward some hay bales being used as benches nearby. He glanced around, not seeing his friends either and he gestured to the hay. “I don’t see my group either.”

Tessa’s cheeks turned an adorable shade of pink and she primly took a seat. “Thank you, again.”

Cullen sat down beside her. “It’s no trouble.”

They sat in an awkward silence for many moments and Cullen desperately tried to think of something, anything, he could say. 

“So, what are you supposed to be?” she joked, tilting her head with a grin. 

Cullen pulled himself together, trying not to focus on how pretty her smile was, and he gestured to his outfit. “Boring, off duty military policeman,” he replied, using Varric’s description of his outfit from earlier. Cullen didn’t dress up for Halloween. He hated Halloween. So he was the only normally dressed one in his group.

“Military police, huh?” Tessa asked, propping her chin on her hand. “No wonder you scared off my admirer so easily.”

Cullen snorted, rubbing the back of his neck. “I didn’t do a good job. He kept coming back.”

Tessa snickered and sat up straight, leaning her hands back on the hay bale behind her. “I’m so killing Dorian for dragging me here. We were supposed to be at a small get together,” she mused. 

“I’m killing Varric for talking us into coming here,” Cullen grumbled, resting his arms on his thighs as he sighed. 

Tessa opened her mouth to answer, but a loud, obnoxious voice stopped her. 

“You made it out! And you picked a piece of corn!” the voice slurred. 

Cullen looked to see a slim, blonde woman stumbling toward them and she basically collapsed into Tessa’s lap. “Dorian and Bull were getting worried,” she continued, wrapping her arm around Tessa’s neck. 

Cullen felt his cheeks heat up. He couldn’t tell if the drunk woman was just being affectionate or if he was an idiot and assumed a girl of Tessa’s caliber was single. 

“You guys shouldn’t have left me alone if you were going to get worried,” Tessa teased, helping the other woman sit on the hay bale beside her. 

“You should have seen the woman working the cash register at the front. She has nice pumpkins if ya know what I mean,” the woman continued to slur, letting out obnoxious giggles as she gestured to her chest. 

Tessa gave Cullen an amused grin before looking back at her friend. “Is that so? Did you get her number?”

“Nah, she had a boyfriend. Told her she was cute though.”

Oh, so they were just friends? Cullen didn’t know why he wanted to know. He didn’t know Tessa at all and he knew it would be inappropriate of him to just flat out ask for her number or something. 

“Tessa!” 

Both he and Tessa looked toward the owner of the new voice and Cullen frowned. Wait, he knew that voice. Sure enough, his co-worker and overseeing officer, Cassandra Pentaghast, was stomping toward them. 

She halted in her tracks when she realized who her friend was sitting by. “Cullen?”

“Hello Cassandra,” Cullen greeted, standing up. 

“What are you doing here?”

Cullen frowned. “My friends dragged me here. I have no idea where they are now.”

Cassandra huffed, crossing her arms. “Let me guess, this was Varric’s or Cousland’s idea?”

“Varric.”

“Ugh.”

Cassandra then looked down at Tessa and the young woman. Tessa was pulling a little water bottle from a large pocket on her overalls.

“Bull and Dorian will be glad to know you found her.”

Tessa rolled her eyes up at the other woman. “She found me. And then she told me about how she hit on the cashier.”

Cassandra let out another disgusted sigh. “We need to get her home.” She then forced the other woman to throw her arm over her shoulder and started to walk toward the direction of the parking lot. 

Tessa stood to follow and she stopped in her tracks before turning around and pulling a sharpie from her pocket. “Can I have your hand?”

Cullen stared at her stupidly, wondering if what was happening was actually happening. Tessa then proceeded to write her number on his palm. “I had this because I thought we would be carving pumpkins. Looks like it turned out useful after all,” she joked with a wink.

“I—Er…”

Tessa’s eyes widened. “Oh God, you probably didn’t want me to do that. I am so sorry, I just assumed—“

“Do you prefer texting or calling?” Cullen finally managed to force out. 

Her jaw dropped, causing her mouth to form a cute ‘o’ before she pulled herself together and beamed up at him. “Surprise me.”

And then she was gone, following Cassandra toward the parking lot.

Cullen then saw something move out of the corner of his eye and noticed two faces looking from between the corn stalks nearby. 

It was Freddy Krueger and Jason. 

Then he knew that the person that scared Tessa earlier wasn’t an employee. And he also remembered that Marian was carrying a backpack with her into the maze. A backpack that could hold various masks and costumes instead of snacks like she claimed. 

“Hawke! You’re an ass!”

Giggles were his only reply.


	2. Bad Date, Good Waiter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I’m on a terrible date and you’re my waiter please help me AU

Eryn couldn’t believe that she was in this situation.

There she was, at a nice Orlesian styled restaurant, sitting across from the biggest prick she had ever met. 

Her mother had set her up on this date and Eryn went just so she would stop bothering her about. She immediately regretted her decision when she walked into the restaurant and saw him. He was condescending and boring as hell and Eryn could see his nose hair from where she sat. She couldn’t just walk out like she usually would because he was the son of her father’s business partner. Even she knew where to draw the line and be polite. 

So, Eryn distracted herself by staring at their waiter whenever he was around. He was attractive and he had a happy-go-lucky way about him that Eryn always liked to see in people. He was tall and broadly built and Eryn wondered how he got his blond hair to do what it did in the front. His nose was downright illegal and his eyes were hazel, at least she assumed so, she couldn’t get quite a good look. 

And, he was funny. She quickly discovered this when he came to take their orders. 

Unfortunately, her date was proving to be a bigger prick than she first assumed. He was rude to the waiter, which set off even more warning bells in Eryn’s head. She looked up at the waiter pleadingly while the asshole across from her looked at the menu to confirm what he was ordering. 

The waiter’s eyebrows furrowed for a moment before he realized what was going on. He quickly wrote something down on his notepad and turned it toward her. _Bad date?_

Eryn rolled her eyes, looking toward the prick before looking back at the waiter. His eyes were hazel, Maker have mercy. 

_Boyfriend?_

Eryn scrunched her nose up in disgust, causing the waiter to have to hold back a laugh. He wrote down her date’s order and then looked at her expectantly. 

Well, the ass was paying and Eryn had a need. She ordered the most expensive thing she could see and asked for a side of fondue and bread. 

The waiter smirked and he left with their order, leaving Eryn alone with the prick again. 

While the jerk was droning on about how elves shouldn’t have as many rights and privileges they should, the waiter showed up again. He halted behind the jerk, made eye contact with her and made a silly face. The situation was so absurd and Eryn couldn’t hold back a smile. 

She shook her head in amusement, trying to look like she was interested in what the asshole was saying. 

The waiter winked and moved on to his other tables and Eryn wished she would have been listening when he introduced himself. 

Eryn endured until their food came and the waiter leaned close enough to where he was brushing up against her as he set her food down in front of her. 

“You made a good choice with the fondue. It’s my favorite,” he said, giving her another wink before moving away. 

Eryn cleared her throat, tilting her head forward and hoping that her hair would hide her cheeks. Maker, his voice was gorgeous. 

Finally, after what seemed like hours, they finished their meal and the waiter arrived with the check. The waiter stood so his back was to her and he was leaning forward as he held the checkbook out to her date. 

She blinked in surprise when she saw a piece of paper in the hand he kept behind his back. He wiggled the fingers he was holding it in and Eryn tried to be a discreet as possible when she reached up to take it. 

She held the paper tightly in her lap, biting her lip to keep the giggles from escaping. 

The jerk across from her berated their waiter for being slow, which he wasn’t, and he stuck his card in the checkbook and gave it back to the waiter with a scowl.

The waiter remained polite and he glanced back at Eryn before leaving. 

“I have to go to the restroom. Excuse me,” she said, quickly getting up and finding the bathroom around the corner. 

As soon as she was inside, she quickly unfolded the paper that she knew he took from his notepad.

_“This may seem forward, and you have every right to be rude to me later if it is, but I have to do this. Here is my number and I hope I can prove that I can be a better date…sometime. If you want.”_

A phone number was written below the message and Eryn could tell that many parts of it looked like it was erased and rewritten many times. Eryn couldn’t wipe the smile off her face if she tried. She quickly regained her composure and put the waiter’s number into her phone.

She hurried back out to her table, where her date was still waiting for the waiter to return.

When he did, she noticed that he lingered after he returned the checkbook. Eryn loudly said, “I’ll get the tip. I’ll meet you outside.”

Her date nodded and waved her comment off as he walked toward the front door. 

The waiter stared at her as she stood and smiled up at him. “What’s your name?” she asked, tilting her head.

He quickly cleared his throat. “Alistair.”

Eryn bit her lip and tucked some of her hair behind her ear. “I’m Eryn. And I would like that sometime to be soon, if you don’t mind.”

She saw his Adam’s apple bob as he blinked in shock. “O-Of course.”

“Good,” she chirped happily, setting some money on the table. 

She didn’t care if her date saw her peck a kiss on Alistair’s cheek either. 

He was the reason she got through the night. 

And she looked her crappy date in the eye as she sent a text to Alistair, inviting him out to coffee sometime. 

Once she was finally in her car and alone, Eryn allowed a squeal to escape from her lips. She never thought something like this would happen to her, but she was glad she jumped on the chance when it did.


	3. High School Teacher AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I imagine all of the DA characters as teachers way too often

Tessa Trevelyan was waaaay in over her head.

Thedas High School was one of the best in the state and she still couldn’t believe that they actually accepted her as their new Biology teacher.

The young woman immediately doubted herself as she stepped through the doors. Classes hadn’t exactly started yet, but teachers had in-service the week before school truly began. She took a deep breath and started to make her way down to her classroom. The science hall was on the third floor of the school and it was in the same hall as the history classrooms.

Tessa ran her fingers through her long, curly strawberry blonde hair, cursing when they got caught in a knot. She finally found her door and fumbled with her keys to unlock the door. It was a little jammed so she had to shove a little to finally get it open and she stumbled through. She turned on the lights and let out a sigh as she glanced around the room.

It was just as barren as she remembered.

Everything was clean, thanks to the janitors, but the walls were lifeless and Tessa frowned at the lack of color.

Setting her large bag down, she smugly grinned at the barren room. “Wait until I’m done with you,” she announced, pulling out her first poster.

Tessa was to teach basic and advanced biology and she had what seemed to be an endless number of posters she had collected while she was at school. Tessa had scoured what seemed to be an endless number of antique stores and websites to find all that she did. She found posters from the 60s and 70s about cell theory and mitosis and she was able to find a cheap copy of the famous drawings by Leonardo.

To be honest, Tessa wanted to teach Anatomy and Physiology and Medical Terminology, but beggars can’t be choosers when one is fresh out of school.

Then again, she hoped that she would be able to teach about the basics of that stuff well enough so the students wouldn’t have trouble when they did take those tougher classes.

Tessa wondered what she must have looked like, standing up on the counter on the far side of the classroom to hang up a colorful poster from the late 90s that described the differences between viruses and bacteria. Right as she pulled her hands away to see if the command strips would work, footsteps suddenly sounded throughout the room.

“Holy crap this place looks different.”

Tessa jumped and looked to see a short man standing next to the desk at the front of the room. His shirt was halfway unbuttoned, showing more chest hair than she ever wanted to see and his blonde hair was halfway pulled back into a ponytail.

She blushed when she realized she was still standing on the countertop. “H-Hello! Sorry, I needed to add some color to the room,” she stammered, carefully getting down from the counter.

“Well, it needed it. About time someone did something about it,” the man laughed, leaning an elbow against her desk. “Let me introduce myself, I’m Varric Tethras. I teach freshman and junior English on the second floor. I heard we got a new Bio teacher and I had to check it out.”

Tessa wiped her hands off on her tights, holding a hand out to him. “Tessa Trevelyan.”

Varric shook her hand and he glanced up at a poster she hung near the chalkboard at the front of the room. “Biologists take Cellfies, huh?”

Tessa grinned sheepishly. “I thought it was cute.”

“I’m sure the kids will like it. It’s good to remember to have fun sometimes. Please, do not be like Pentaghast or Rutherford. Those two can shit diamonds,” he chuckled.

The young teacher tried to remember those names, she had glanced at the faculty page of the school before applying after all and while she remembered the names, she couldn’t remember the faces. “I’m sorry, but what do they teach again? I feel horrible, I tried to remember-“

“Hey, relax. Everyone’s not expecting you to be perfect. And don’t be afraid to ask for help. Sparkler-sorry, Mr. Pavus, will gladly help you out and don’t be afraid to ask Wynne or Anders for help. She’s glad to finally have a new biology teacher and now Blondie has someone to talk about chemistry with.” Varric stood up straight again. “Cassandra teaches sophomore and senior English and we both teach College English. And Cullen teaches world history and sociology next door. I never hear complaints about his class, which is surprising because he never smiles.”

Tessa suddenly hoped she would never meet this Cullen Rutherford or Cassandra Pentaghast. She didn’t do well with grumpy people.

“Don’t let me scare you though, they’re good people. They won’t hesitate to help if you need it. Anyway, the teachers are having a pot luck tomorrow after in-service. We would have included you in the loop but apparently your email is not set up yet,” Varric said, smirking.

“Oh, thank you. What should I bring?” Tessa asked, quickly grabbing her notepad from her bag.

“The science hall is usually in charge of snacks and desserts. I would just bring a plate of cookies or something like that,” Varric replied, making his way back out the door. “See you tomorrow, Cellfie!”

Tessa immediately knew that she would get along with Varric. He sure was a talker though. She set her notepad to the side and got back to hanging up her posters. Her bag was finally starting to look empty after what seemed like hours. She grinned at the poster she was about to hang next to the door. It was an old, vintage diagram of many different species of butterflies and she couldn’t help but think that it was cool.

She put the command strips on the back of the poster and then tore off the backing on those and she stuck it to the wall. She pressed her hands on the strips, counting to 20 in her head as she looked out into the hall. Her heart literally skipped a beat at the sight before her. The door to the classroom across from her was open and she was able to clearly see the teacher sitting on the desk at the front.

His blond hair was impeccably combed and his brow was furrowed as he looked down at the book he was reading. His button down shirt was rolled up to his elbows and Tessa almost didn’t know what to do with herself. She had a weak spot for men who did that with their shirts.

It didn’t help that the shirt didn’t hide how lean and broad he was. She took a quick glance at the name above the door and she realized that this was the Cullen Rutherford Varric had mentioned.

Her eyes trailed over the chiseled lines of his face and—of course, with her luck—he looked up right as she realized she was staring. She quickly looked away and hoped she looked like she was just glancing across the hall for a moment. She realized it was way past 20 seconds and she moved her hands to the lower strips on the poster.

The scrape of a chair and heavy footsteps caused her to stiffen. Oh no, he was probably going to ask her to never look at him again and that she made him uncomfortable. What was she going to do? 

“Are you the new Biology teacher?”

Oh no, he had a smooth, accented voice too.

Tessa forced herself to look up and only then did she realize how freaking tall he was. He was casually leaning his shoulder against the door frame and his hands were in his pockets. He had at least six inches on her and he wasn’t even standing up straight.

“Y-yup! That’s me,” Tessa tried to keep her voice even and light hearted, but she knew she wasn’t succeeding. She never could act normal around attractive men.

He held his hand out. “Cullen Rutherford, I teach World History and Sociology next door.”

Tessa quickly turned to face him as she shook his hand. Oh dear, they were big and calloused. She could feel herself turning into a mess on the inside. “Tessa Trevelyan.”

Cullen stuck his hand back in his pocket and cleared his throat. “What school did you go to?”

“Ostwick. You?” Small talk, surely she could manage small talk?

“I went to Kirkwall.”

An awkward silence hung over them for a moment and Tessa found herself looking at the top buttons of his shirt, which were undone, sweet Jesus. A chain of a necklace peeked out and Tessa recognized the dog tags as soon as she saw them. “You were in the army?”

His eyes, which were amber colored, widened and he glanced down at the tags, clearing his throat. “Yes, I was part of the Military Police.”

Tessa found herself rambling before she could stop. “My grandpa was in the Marines. He used to love it. One of my older brothers is one too. I thought about going into it but then I figured out I actually loved science.” She tucked her hands behind her back and rocked back on her heels. Oh God, it was like she was a scared 18 year old again. “Sorry, I’m sure you didn’t want to hear my whole life story.”

He surprisingly just grinned and stood up straight. Her eyes instantly noticed how the scar on his lip danced with the action. Scars shouldn’t be attractive, yet here he was.

“That’s fine. I found out that I actually loved history after a couple tours myself.” He glanced around the room and his eyes fell on the poster she had just finished hanging up. “It’s about time someone brought color into this place. The students might actually want to learn now.”

Tessa grinned, stroking the poster lovingly. It was her favorite out of them all. “Mr. Tethras said the same thing.”

Cullen’s grin faded a little. “Ah, I suppose he already gave his welcoming speech?”

Tessa’s own grin faltered as she tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear. “Is that a bad thing?”

Cullen quickly shook his head. “Oh no! It’s just he always tells people that Cassandra and I are grumps. She’s going to kill him if he did it again.”

Tessa tilted her head and she just had to embarrass herself by saying, “Well, I think it’s safe to say he’s wrong about you.”

After realizing what she just said, she looked away, biting her lip nervously. She quickly grabbed another poster from her bag and pulled command strips from her pocket. When he didn’t say anything, she looked up to see him giving her a wide eyed look.

He started to rub the back of his head as he cleared his throat and Tessa thought the act was adorable. Oh no, she was in big trouble. “T-Thank you, for saying that. The last new teacher was scared to even talk to us after Varric talked to them. She wouldn’t even look at me.”

Well, she missed out, the naughty voice in Tessa’s mind commented.

Cullen suddenly reached forward and Tessa stiffened when he touched the front of her oversized plaid button up shirt. The blush on her cheeks deepened when he held up the backing from a command strip. Oh God, she was talking to him the whole time with command strip trash stuck to her shirt!

“Sorry, this was stuck. I’ll let you get back to work. If you need any help, don’t be afraid to ask.”

Tessa stared after him as he walked back across the hall and that naughty voice in her mind convinced her to let her gaze drift a little more south than needed.

Dear God, she was in trouble.

* * *

Tessa was in over her head again when she walked into the teacher’s lounge the next day for meetings. The only people she knew were Doctor de Fer, the Principle, Aveline, the vice principle, Varric, and Cullen. As soon as she walked in, Varric instantly kicked out the chair next to him. “Over here Cellfie!”

The dark haired woman next to him scoffed. “You already gave her a nickname?”

“It’s from one of her cool posters! Come here, I need you to meet a few people,” the blond laughed.

Tessa’s eyes met Cullen’s for a moment and he grinned at her before looking back down at the papers in front of him. Her stomach fluttered at the sight and she had to look away quickly, taking the seat Varric saved her.

“I see you and Curly have met. Cellfie, this is Cassandra Pentaghast. I told you about her yesterday. And look who’s here! Blondie! You have a new science friend over here.”

Cassandra’s lip curled when Varric mentioned talking about her and Tessa instantly knew Cullen hadn’t been lying about her being upset at the man.

A blond man with his hair back in a ponytail sat next to Tessa and his thin face looked weary. “Hello, I’m Anders. I teach Chemistry down the hall from you.”

Tessa shook his hand and jumped when a large man plopped down in the chair next to Cassandra, causing it to creak a little as he leaned back in it. He had to be the biggest, buffest guy Tessa had ever seen.

“Names Issac, but everyone else calls me Bull,” he greeted, picking at something between his teeth.

“What have I told you about doing that in public?!”

Tessa looked to see a dark haired man sit next to Issac. He huffed and shoved the bigger man’s arm.

“That’s Mr. Pavus, the physics teacher. He’s in your hall too,” Varric explained.

Pavus looked over at Tessa and his annoyed look melted away into a charming smile. “So nice to see a fresh face around here. We thought Alexius would never leave.” He reached across the table and held out his hand, which Tessa noticed had many rings. “I’m Dorian, and I’m sorry but I believe I can’t remember your name.”

Tessa grinned and shook his hand. She didn’t know why, but she knew she was going to get along with Dorian as well. “Tessa. Tessa Trevelyan.”

Dorian’s brows went to his hairline. “Trevelyan? Doesn’t your family basically run the school board at Ostwick University?”

Tessa felt her whole face turn pink. Dammit, she hoped that no one would know about that. “My aunt is the President and I have a few uncles on my mother’s side there,” she mumbled, pulling her hand away.

“Is that so? Our families might know each other. I hail from the Minrathous alma mater, myself.”

Issac snorted, causing Dorian to whip around and frown at him. A lean, wiry man with white hair took a seat in the middle of the table next to a dark haired woman. He curled his lip at Dorian before turning to talk to her.

“See him? He hates anything Tevinter, just don’t mention it to him. Fenris is one of our language teachers here. He is literally fluent in anything,” Varric muttered in her ear. He then pointed to the woman sitting next to Fenris. “And that is Marian Hawke. She teaches Economics, you’ll like her.”

The woman, Hawke, was elbowing Cullen and appeared to be trying to make a joke, which apparently caused Cullen to frown.

A thin, nervous looking woman sat down next to Anders and she seemed to be looking anywhere but at the end of the table Cullen was sitting at.

“Daisy, this is the new Biology teacher!” Varric announced, getting her attention.

Tessa figured that Daisy wasn’t the woman’s actual name. “O-Oh! Hello, I’m Merrill. I teach World History I.”

“What’s the difference between World History I and World History?” Tessa asked, quirking a brow.

“Curly teaches World History II. He covers stuff that has happened in the last few hundred years. Daisy over there teaches about ancient stuff, which is harder in my opinion,” Varric cut in. “She’s like a living textbook.”

A light blush covered Merrill’s cheeks. “O-Oh you’re just saying that.”

A sudden boom of laughter suddenly sounded from the opposite end of the table. Tessa looked to see a slim man with blond hair, a red headed woman, a heavily bearded man, and a dark haired woman laughing. Cullen and the bald man across from him just looked annoyed and an older woman was shaking her head good naturedly.

“Zevran probably just made a joke. He’s surprisingly funny sometimes. Zev is the blond, Leliana is next to him and then that’s Blackwall and Josephine. The man who looks like he just shit a brick is Solas and the sweet old lady is Wynne. You’ll figure out what they teach once Principle de Fer gets here. Aveline must be helping her right now.”

A dark skinned woman suddenly plopped down next to Merrill, causing the slimmer woman to jump in her seat.

The woman leaned forward and stared at Tessa for a moment before giving her a sultry grin. “Well, well, looks like we have a pretty biology teacher now. Name’s Isabella. I teach Sex Ed.”

For some reason, that didn’t surprise Tessa in the slightest.

The whole table went quiet when a dark skinned man settled himself down in the seat next to Isabella.

Varric leaned over and whispered, “That’s Sten. He scares the shit out of everyone.”

It seemed oddly fitting that Sten was the home economics teacher.

* * *

Cullen was actually looking forward to the teachers’ pot luck for once. He glanced down at the reason as to why he was not dreading it as he usually did.

Tessa Trevelyan was an enigma he had yet to figure out. She had acted shy around him, but she seemed to be charming and at ease with everyone else. He had met her gaze a few times and she always looked away after giving him a small grin.

Was she nervous around him like Merrill is? Or was it something else?

Trevelyan didn’t seem like the type of woman that was meek, so he knew she probably wasn’t scared of him.

Did he say something wrong yesterday?

Cullen couldn’t think of anything that could have caused her to act this way.

Isabella was right, though. Cullen had unintentionally listened in on the conversations surrounding Tessa before the meeting began and he had to agree with her. Tessa was pretty. Her big eyes were heavily lashed and her full lips seemed to always be quirked up into a smile. Her golden-red hair was halfway pulled back today and the rest fell in soft curls to the middle of her back.

She was extremely pretty.

Cullen was actually amazed that he was able to keep his composure yesterday. He never was smooth or eloquent around women he was attracted to.

He mentally shook the thought from his mind. He had to stop thinking about her this way. They were co-workers now and he made one rule for himself when he started his teaching career and that was to not date co-workers. It didn’t help that he was 33. He had to at least be ten years older than her. He also had too much baggage and no woman would want to deal with that. That excuse slowly melted away when he saw her smile sweetly at Merrill.

He soon found himself admiring her occasionally when Dr. de Fer’s speeches droned on longer than needed.

She would stick her tongue out adorably from time to time as she was taking notes and Cullen noticed that she doodled on the notepad frequently beside her notes.

Unfortunately, Hawke caught him staring once. Marian Hawke and her gang of friends also went to Kirkwall and they all took Education classes together. She and her friends seemed like the typical band of college misfits that couldn’t even cook ramen correctly, yet here they all were.

She smirked up at him and gave him a playful nudge with her elbow, looking down at Tessa and back at him before wiggling her eyebrows.

Cullen frowned at her before going back to editing his syllabus. The in-service meetings finally ended and Cullen soon found himself standing next to Cassandra at the pot luck. Trevelyan was now surrounded by all of the teachers as they asked where she went to school and why she wanted to be a teacher.

“So what do you think?”

Cullen glanced down at Cassandra. “About what?”

“About her? I think she’s capable. Ostwick is a good school and she seems passionate about what she’s doing. You’re across from her, correct?”

Cullen thought about his conversation with Tessa yesterday. “I think Aveline and Dr. de Fer made a good choice.”

The history teacher had full intentions to talk to the new teacher again, but he just kept losing courage whenever he saw someone else catch her attention the moment he would try to. He was getting ready to just give up as he reached for the platter of cookies Sten had brought. Cullen stiffened when he saw a dainty hand reach for one of those cookies the same exact time.

Cullen realized at this moment that Tessa Trevelyan had unique eyes. He was standing close enough to see that they weren’t blue like he thought they were. They actually looked like a dark shade of violet. She glanced down at the plate of cookies and then back up at him with a small grin. “Hello,” she said softly, grabbing a cookie off the plate.

“Hello.”

They stood in silence and Tessa just studied the cookie in her hand for a moment before sneaking a glance up at him. Cullen couldn’t think of any adequate thing to say at the moment. How does one be charming and witty? He knew, but he just couldn’t remember at the moment. The soft grin on her lips was making that difficult.

He finally gestured to the rest of the teacher’s lounge. “Have you been enjoying yourself?”

Her grin became a beaming smile and Cullen almost didn’t know what to do with himself. She had a beautiful smile that could light up a room.

“Everyone has been so welcoming…well, except for Fenris and Sten, but I’ve been told that’s just how they are.”

Cullen glanced down at the plate of cookies and grabbed one himself. “Yes, they never were the friendly type.”

Tessa tilted her head and a humorous glint suddenly appeared in her eyes. “I feel as if Varric should have warned me about them instead of warning me about you and Cassandra. Like I said, you’re not what I would call grumpy.”

“So that’s what he called us? Never would have thought,” Cullen joked, taking a bite of cookie. Then he said something stupid. “What would you call me then?”

Her eyes narrowed a little as she studied him for a moment and Cullen regretted everything. That was too much. This is what happened when he talked to pretty women.

“I don’t quite know. I’ll have to see more to give you an accurate answer. You know, sufficient data and all of that stuff,” she finally replied, giving him a shy grin. Her eyes suddenly widened and Cullen could tell that she was resisting the urge to slap a hand over her mouth. She quickly recovered and cleared her throat, grabbing her plastic cup full of lemonade nearby.

Cullen couldn’t help but feel amused at her reaction. He hid his grin behind his own cup of lemonade. Hold on, she said she would have to see more…did this mean he didn’t upset her the other day?

She glanced up at him shyly again and Cullen suddenly had the urge to stand closer to her. Unfortunately, one did not do that to ladies they have only talked to twice. He forced himself to stay still and leave at least two feet of space between them.

“So…when did you start working here?” she asked, tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear.

The conversation went surprisingly smooth after that. They talked about their times at school and how each of them came to be at Thedas High and Cullen found out many little things about her. She talked with her hands, but it wasn’t so over the top that it became distracting, and she truly was passionate about biology. He had asked what she was planning to teach first in her classes and that led to her telling him all of her ideas.

She truly was adorable.

And he almost had no idea what she was talking about when she started to talk about her advanced biology plans; he never was one for science. Then again, he usually got that reaction from people when he talked about his plans for his sociology classes.

“Can I ask you an honest question?” she finally asked, suddenly looking nervous.

“Of course.”

“Were you nervous at first? I’m so scared that my students won’t like me and—oh, I don’t know, I’m scared they won’t like the content and…” she trailed off and sighed, “I’m rambling again, sorry.”

Cullen remembered his first time teaching, ever. One doesn’t forget a moment like that. “Everyone feels that way at first. Just remember that not everyone is going to like your class but don’t count them out if they don’t. I’m sure you knew that already, though.”

Her nervous frown turned into another soft grin.

“Thank you.”

Cullen instantly knew that this was going to be an interesting year.

* * *

Of course he coached the boys’ soccer team.

And, of course, Tessa had a perfect view of the field from her classroom’s window. The rest of her week of in-service was spent checking and organizing her stock of lab equipment and materials. She was right in the middle of checking her list when she saw Cullen walk out of the door in his coaching gear the first day. 

Oh God, she had it bad.

Tessa was never good at the dating game, unfortunately.

All of her time in high school was focused on having the highest grades possible and being the best she could be at soccer and track. And, the way her parents treated all three of her older brothers’ relationships in high school made her afraid to pursue any relationships herself. She didn’t want her parents to think that she wasn’t trying to get into college and give her a hard time as well.

And it got worse at Ostwick. There, Tessa dedicated everything she could to school and soccer, not letting her have time for much else. She had plenty of friends that were both boys and girls and she never felt lonely.

Now, all of her friends and family were at least 30 minutes away and they all had their own busy schedules as well.

And that was why Tessa mourned her lack of experience and skill in the dating arena.

She had been on dates in the past and she had a few awkward encounters at Frat parties that included a lot of groping, but other than that, she had never been in a true relationship.

Cullen was the first person to catch her eye in a long time and she wondered what would happen if she asked him out for coffee or something after work.

No, she couldn’t do that. He was a coach and the soccer season was just starting. Besides, she didn’t even know if he was single or not.

Speaking of soccer…Tessa couldn’t help but stare out at the soccer fields nearby wistfully as the girl’s team practiced. What she would give to be on the field again.

The answer to her prayer came in the form of Cassandra Pentaghast marching into her classroom not even seconds later.

“Varric told me that you mentioned playing soccer at Ostwick?” she quickly asked, looking disheveled.

Tessa set down her lab notebook with a quizzical look. “Yes…”

“Merrill just informed us that her extra job at the local museum will get in the way of her coaching and we need someone to take her place. What do you know about coaching?”

Tessa started to straighten out papers on her desk as she spluttered through her answer. “I-I coached a lot of elementary school teams during college and—“

“That’s good enough. Do you need clothes? I have an extra set in my classroom. Practice is now and we need to get started.”

And that was how Tessa found herself on the field in a t-shirt that was a tad too big for her and the shoes she happened to have in the trunk of her car and she was standing in front of 40 girls with Cassandra, Aveline, and a short woman who she found out was the school counselor, Eryn Cousland-Theirin.

“Alright girls, this is the new biology teacher, Coach Trevelyan. She played soccer at Ostwick and she’s going to be the new JV coach.”

Aveline had pulled her to the side while the girls went through their warm up and she gave Tessa a packet to look at and she started to explain how they ran the team. “Basically, you and Eryn will teach them the basics and these formations. Don’t be afraid to add something you know in there as well. Coaching will add a little to your salary as well. Have fun.”

The taller woman clapped Tessa on the back, almost knocking her over, and she made her way back over to Cassandra.

Eryn Cousland-Theirin was a short, stocky woman that looked like she could bench press Tessa. Her light brown hair was cut to chin length and she screamed intimidating. Despite that, her blue-grey eyes had a kind twinkle in them.

“First time coaching?” she asked, watching as the girls started to stretch. Thankfully, try outs for the Varsity positions had already happened so Tessa didn’t have to help make those decisions right now.

“No, I used to help coach teams in the summer while I went to school. It’s my first time with high schoolers though.”

Eryn grinned. “Don’t worry. It’s actually easier than you think it would be. And I’ll help you out. Cassandra will probably be the only hard ass here.”

Shouting from the field nearby had Tessa glancing toward it and she did a double take. Oh no, of course the boys team would be on the field next to them. And of course, there was Cullen, standing with another blond man, and Dorian.

“If you’re checking out the guy in the blue shirt, he’s mine,” Eryn teased, giving her a wink.

Wait, Theirin…this woman was married to the head of the school board! “That’s Alistair Theirin?”

“Yup. People expect him to be old and gray all the time and I make fun of him for it. He refused to sit on the sidelines all the time when he got the position. That’s why he became a coach. It really gives him an idea on what the students are thinking and it helps the school board out.”

Tessa stared at the man, dumbfounded. Most school board members she’s encountered couldn’t give a rat’s ass about what the students thought.

“Now if you’re staring at the guy in white, he’s taken by Bull, the PE teacher and football coach. You should hear them argue about who’s team is better. The guy in red is single though.”

Cullen was single?

This day just got better. Tessa was back on the soccer field and Cullen was single. “What a relief,” Tessa mumbled, remembering that she would probably never act on that information.

Eryn gave her a wide eyed look before laughter escaped from her. “He’s kind of a killjoy, good luck. No one has seen him go on a date the five years he’s been here.”

And her day just got a little worse.

Eryn must have noticed her disappointment because she leaned over with a mischievous grin. “If you tell the right people, like myself and Marian, we can make something happen. We are the best wing men a girl could ask for. We’ve been trying to set him up for years and you may be the answer to our prayers if you’re interested.”

Tessa was suddenly reminded of her best friends from Ostwick. Caylea and Siler would have done the same thing. It took away that little pang of loneliness she was feeling earlier.

“I might just take you up on that,” Tessa replied with a grin before turning to the girls, who were just finishing up their stretches.

* * *

Cullen couldn’t stop glancing toward where the girls’ soccer team was practicing.

Why was Trevelyan out there? And why did it look like she was helping coach?

“Take a picture, it’ll last longer,” Dorian grumbled. The boys were doing their end of practice conditioning and Alistair took the job of making sure they all did what they were supposed to, leaving the other two coaches to stand on the side of the field.

“What are you talking about?”

“You keep looking over at the pretty biology teacher. Just take a picture or actually ask her out for coffee and do us all a favor.”

Cullen could feel his ears starting to turn pink. “I-I—“

“Oh, don’t deny it. You think she’s cute.”

Cullen scowled at the man beside him.

“Aha! You’re getting mad, that means I’m right.”

Cullen refused to talk to Dorian the rest of practice. But, unfortunately, that wasn’t going to be the end of his torment.

Eryn, Alistair’s wife and the high school counselor, was leading Tessa over to their field after both of their practices ended. Eryn walked toward her husband and Cullen assumed she was going to introduce the new teacher—and apparently, new soccer coach—to Alistair right as he and Cullen were planning practice for Monday.

Cullen tried to find a way to tactfully escape before Eryn would notice, but he was never that lucky.

“Ali, this is Tessa Trevelyan. You helped interview her, didn’t you? Hey Cullen!”

Alistair instantly perked up at his wife’s presence and Cullen wondered what it must be like to have something like they had momentarily. “That I did. How has your first in-service been? And how did you end up out here?”

Tessa shrugged and explained that Merrill couldn’t coach and how Cassandra basically dragged her out onto the field.

“You played at Ostwick? I remember that on your resume. Didn’t you all win nationals or something along those lines?” Alistair asked.

Tessa blushed cutely and tossed her ponytail over her shoulder. “We got second last year. The whole team was great and it was the farthest we’ve been in a while.”

“Didn’t you play at Kirkwall, Cullen?” Eryn asked, smiling at him sweetly. Cullen could see past the act though. She was up to something.

“Yes, I did.”

“Goal keeper, right?”

“Yes…”

Eryn turned to Tessa. “You were a center forward?”

Tessa’s eyes narrowed suspiciously as she confirmed the information and Cullen wondered if she was thinking the same thing he was thinking.

“Interesting,” Eryn mused, grinning a little.

Alistair finally noticed that his wife was up to something and he gave Cullen a confused look.

Cullen shrugged his shoulders with an annoyed expression.

“Anyway, we’ll just let you guys get back to planning,” Eryn reached up on the tips of her toes and pecked her husband on the cheek. “I’ll be waiting in the car, babe.”

“Actually, we were done. See you tomorrow,” Alistair quickly said, following his wife to the parking lot.

Cullen glared at the man’s back. They were far from done and Alistair knew it.

“They’re so cute it’s almost gross,” Tessa commented, tilting her head as she watched the couple walk away.

Laughter bubbled past his lips before he could stop it. “Everyone thinks so.”

Tessa grinned and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “Eryn was way nicer than I expected. She looks like she could snap anyone in half.” Her eyes widened and she started to wring her hands. “Not that I automatically assumed she was mean or anything.”

Cullen crossed his arms with a small grin. “She does give off that impression. Everyone was terrified of her at first. The students like her, despite that. She’s good at her job.”

Tessa grinned herself, clasping her hands behind her back. “I think they fit under my definition of a power couple.”

“What’s a power couple?”

“Two influential people that are together. People usually focus on celebrities, like Jay-Z and Beyoncé, but I like finding the power couples in real life,” she explained.

She started to walk toward the parking lot, hitching her bag higher on her shoulder and Cullen found himself grabbing his own bag and following her. “What other power couples have you found?” he asked.

“My grandparents. They’re definitely a power couple. And two of my friends at Ostwick were the perfect definition of an everyday power couple. They both were leaders on campus and they were perfect at everything they did.”

Cullen suddenly found himself wondering what Tessa was like in her very recent college days. Would she have been like Hawke and her friends, goofing around with friends and cramming for tests the night before, or like him, who was a shut in and only left his apartment for class and soccer practice?

He guessed she was somewhere in the middle.

She surprised him by stopping next to a Ford Escape that had all sorts of stickers stuck to the back of it. He saw the Coexist sticker and many others that called for equal rights for women and other minorities.

Cullen suddenly had the feeling that he and Tessa could become friends if he could focus on not making a mistake, like asking her out. “Nice stickers.”

Tessa’s eyes widened as she stopped digging through her bag for her keys. “Oh shoot! I forgot to take those off. Do they look to unprofessional? I didn’t think they would but—“

“Keep them on. Dr. de Fer isn’t the type to go out and scour the parking lot.”

“Oh, good.” Tessa opened the back door and tossed her bag inside. “Well, I’ll see you Monday?”

Right, it was Friday and Cullen actually felt himself deflate a little. “Yes.”

They awkwardly said goodbye and Cullen watched as the Escape pulled out of the parking lot.

He was in trouble.

* * *

Tessa’s hands were shaking with nervousness that next Monday.

She awkwardly sat at her desk at the front of the class. Everything was as it should be. All of the posters and other little decorations she wanted were around the room and she already had everything set out for the beginning of class.

She wrote her name up on the board and then wrote down the plan for class that day, which was going to be the same for every class.

The young teacher glanced out her window and she saw Cullen writing things up on the board behind his desk in his classroom. Oh Lord, he was wearing heavy rimmed glasses as he read the book he was copying things from.

She thought about what Eryn said at soccer practice the other day and she desperately hoped the woman was joking about being her and Marian being Tessa’s wing men.

Tessa didn’t get to contemplate on it long as students started to file into the classroom. Many of the girls laughed or smiled at the ‘Biologists take Cellfies’ poster and many of the other students were looking around at the rest of her posters in curiosity.

Well, at least her work with the posters paid off.

Some of the students read the instructions at the top of the worksheets she placed on the desks and immediately started filling them out.

“What is this? Kindergarten?” she heard one boy mutter.

Tessa inwardly shrugged the comment off and went back to checking her roster on her laptop. She could do this, she knew she could. If she was able to flawlessly teach almost by herself toward the end of her student teaching, she could handle it on her own.

The worksheets were questionnaires the students could fill out about themselves. It included telling their hobbies, interests, and plans for their futures. She knew she probably wouldn’t get much from the freshmen, but she hoped it would be a good ice breaker. She remembered how some of her college professors did the same and she liked that they tried to get to know their students.

“Did you see what Mr. Rutherford was wearing?”

Tessa immediately glanced at the said teacher across the hall as she overheard the conversation between the two girls in the front row.

“He always looks put together. I wish Andrew would do that.”

“How are you and Andrew doing?”

“I think I’m going to break up with him.”

“Why?”

“I don’t think he cares about the relationship at all.”

Tessa tried to hide her grin. She remembered when she was 14 and thought she knew everything about everyone too. As soon as the final bell rang and everyone was in their seats, Tessa stood and closed the door to the classroom, causing the side conversations to fall silent.

“Alright, if you haven’t done so already, just fill out those questions really quick and then we’ll get started,” she announced, trying to sound confident.

The worksheets were finally collected and Tessa then handed out her syllabus and covered what they were going to go over that year. When there was about 20 minutes left of class, Tessa threw out her wild card.

“Now, I’m going to open up this time to let you guys get to know me. Don’t be shy and I’ll answer what I can.”

One of the girls she recognized from the soccer practice Friday raised her hand immediately. “Did you play soccer in college? And are you just a temporary coach since Miss Merrill isn’t there?”

“Yes, I played at Ostwick University and I am the new assistant coach.”

Assistant coach. Tessa liked the sound of that.

Another soccer girl raised her hand. “What position did you play?”

Tessa answered about ten more questions about soccer before a boy from the back raised his hand. “Are you single?”

That caused many glares from the girls and sniggers from the boys.

Tessa smirked and shook her head. She was told she was going to get that from her mentor at her student teaching position. “Sorry, that’s classified information. Next question?”

The rest of the questions were more about where she was from and what she liked to do in her free time and then the bell finally rang.

As the last student filed out, Tessa couldn’t help but smile. She did it. She got through her first class by herself.

* * *

Cullen almost lost his composure many times that day.

He suddenly remembered how raging the libidos of teenage boys were when he overheard their conversations about the ‘hot new biology teacher’ and how they would love to ‘tap that’.

Then again, he supposed he wasn’t that much better. He kept glancing out of his classroom door window to get a glimpse of her. She was wearing a pencil skirt that was doing things he wish it didn’t. She also had all of her hair down and he found himself staring more than once.

Jesus, he had to get a hold of himself, he was almost worse than the students.

It only got worse at soccer practice. He kept glancing over at the field where the girls were practicing to try to get a glimpse of her. God, he barely knew her and he could hardly keep his eyes off her.

It was even worse when Eryn and the other girls’ team coaches came to their field toward the end of practice.

“Coach Rutherford! We need you to solve something for us!” Eryn called out, looking like a cat that ate the canary.

Alistair gave him a worried look. Oh shit.

Tessa looked flustered and Cullen had to force himself to look away. She was sweating a little and the sweat caused her skin to glisten. And he couldn’t help but appreciate how her legs looked in shorts. Double shit. 

The boys were gathered around them and Cullen noticed that the girls’ team had basically followed their coaches to the other field.

“And what would that be Coach Theirin?” he asked.

“Some of the girls looked up some of Coach Trevelyan’s stats from Ostwick and we want to see if she’s as good as they say she is.”

“Coach, please—“

Eryn cut Tessa off. “She’s apparently the best center forward they had in 20 years. We want to see if it’s true. And you were a good goalie last I checked.”

Triple shit.

“I know what you’re planning and I’m not falling for it,” Cullen growled at the tiny woman.

Eryn wasn’t backing down and she was a freight train when she got started. “Oh come on; let’s make it a game then. If Coach Trevelyan scores more goals, you guys have to do something of our choice and vice versa if you stop them all.”

“Eryn,” Tessa grumbled.

Alistair and Dorian, unfortunately, were more competitive about this than Cullen was.

“You’re on! Watch boys, you’ll learn something,” Alistair laughed. Dorian looked happier than a kid on his birthday. Cassandra and Aveline had smug grins on their faces and Eryn had a challenging smirk on hers.

Tessa, meanwhile, looked like she would rather be anywhere but there.

Soon, Cullen had gloves shoved into his hands and he found himself standing in front of the goal with Tessa standing near the forward center’s position. Cassandra and Dorian stood nearby, ready to pass the ball to Tessa and everyone else watched eagerly from the field. All of the students looked like this was the best day ever.

“Alright, best out of 10!” Eryn called out. She turned and looked at her husband. “Alright Coach Theirin, what happens if Coach Trevelyan loses? Which she won’t.”

Alistair tapped his chin in thought for a few moments before sharing a glance with Dorian. “You all have to do your best chicken impersonation for 30 seconds and let Coach Pavus record it.”

Cassandra let out a disgusted snort and Cullen had to admit that seeing Cassandra and Aveline do chicken impersonations would brighten his day.

Many of the students giggled at the term.

“And what about you, Coach Theirin? What happens if Coach Rutherford loses? Which he won’t.”

Ugh, they were doing their husband/wife crap.

“You all have to sing Somewhere Over the Rainbow at the top of your lungs and let me record it.”

Cullen could see what this was doing for the students. They all looked excited or entertained somehow and he instantly knew what Eryn was up to. There was concern toward the end of last year’s season about how the students were handling the stress of being student-athletes and all of the soccer coaches had discussed doing something like this. It would help the students have fun and it was a chance for them to laugh at their coaches.

How could he have forgotten?

“Right, ready?” Alistair called out, beaming.

Cullen and Tessa nodded and he focused in on her. Cassandra passed the ball to Tessa and Cullen barely reacted in time to stop the ball from sailing past him. He dove and stopped the ball and he was surprised when it almost got past him still.

Holy shit, she could kick hard!

Cullen had to literally lay on the ball so it would stop spinning.

One of her attempts to score finally got by him the third time. The spin was too great and it curved at the last second, sailing past his hands.

The kicks kept coming and Cullen soon found them at the last kick. It was 5-4 and she was ahead.

Sweat was beading on his brow, due to the humid, late August heat and he tried to not focus on how Tessa’s t-shirt was sticking to her skin.

Dorian passed the ball and Cullen got ready as he saw Trevelyan wind up for the kick. It was the fastest thing he had seen in years and it was heading straight for his head and he could tell it was going to curve right away. Just as he predicted, it did the strange curve that Trevelyan only seemed capable of. He jumped as high as he could to try to stop it, but it was no use.

All of the students shouted or cheered as the ball hit the net behind him. The boys were shouting in disbelief and calling out how ‘sick’ that was and the girls were jumping in excitement and cheering in victory.

Cullen sighed and pulled off his gloves, jogging toward Trevelyan. He was never going to hear the end of this from Dorian or Cassandra, but he didn’t care. Tessa was good at what she did and won fair and square. It was as simple as that. “Well done,” he panted, holding his hand out to her.

She pushed some loose hair back from her face and she grinned up at him, shaking his hand.

“I’ve never seen someone bend the ball like that,” he commented as they made their way over to the other coaches.

She shrugged and tossed her braid over her shoulder. “I just…I don’t know. It just made sense to me one day.”

Cullen could get what she meant. He remembered the day that being a goal keeper clicked for him.

Eryn, unfortunately, already had her phone out and ready to go. “Alright boys, show off those pipes.”

Dorian glared at him and Alistair looked like a pouting child. Oh well, they would get over it eventually.

Cullen took a deep breath and started to loudly sing. “Soooooomewheeeeeeeeere oooooooooover the raiiiiiiinbow.”

The students had a hay day.

* * *

This was officially the worst day ever.

Before anyone knew it, two months have flown by and it was already close to Halloween. That wasn’t what ruined Tessa’s morning, though.

She was rear ended that morning on the way to work and that caused her to be an hour late, which she assumed her first basic biology class didn’t mind. It didn’t look like she would have a car for some time though. Luckily, Cassandra and Marian were usually the perfect people to rant to.

Tessa found herself in the teacher’s lounge, lamenting her problem.

“Wait, it was a rear end right? Why would it take a long time?” Marian asked, quirking a brow as she refilled her cup of coffee.

With a sigh, Tessa leaned back against the counter. “The mechanic called before lunch and told me that I also had some axle and engine problems too. He was surprised my car hadn’t broken down sooner. So, I won’t have a car for a few weeks.”

Cassandra sighed with enough disgust for the three of them and Marian gave her a sympathetic grin.

The door to the lounge opened and Tessa immediately stiffened when she saw Cullen walk in. Ever since their showdown against each other, her juvenile crush on him has only grown. The fact that he wasn’t a sore loser about the whole situation and how he actually congratulated her and talked to her more wasn’t helping.

Tessa’s last crush was her freshman year of college and she remembered when she was in a similar situation with the captain of the boys’ soccer team.

Yeah, this was like that, only ten times worse.

Cullen was actively going out of his way to talk to her more and that was when Tessa discovered that they liked many of the same things…and when she said things she meant books. Tessa had always been a bookworm and the fact that Cullen was suggesting books to her always caused her stomach to flutter. They also both preferred tea over coffee and other stupid stuff like that.

She was in over her head.

Today, he was wearing his square, heavily rimmed glasses with a red button up shirt and slacks. Jesus, he was always put together and she never knew what to do with herself.

Marian suddenly smirked at her and Tessa immediately started to worry.

True to her word, Eryn passed on the mission to be Tessa’s wing man to Marian and both women have been using any opportunity to make sure she and Cullen were alone.

“Tessa, where do you live again?” Marian asked, setting her coffee mug aside.

Tessa pouted at Marian. “You know where I live.”

“You live at the complex at Skyhold Drive and Haven Street, right?”

“Yes…”

“Cullen!”

The said man jumped a little, looking over his shoulder at Marian in annoyance from the counter across the room. “Do you really have to shout whenever you want to talk to me?” he grumbled, sticking his green tea bag in his steaming mug.

“You live on Skyhold Drive, right?”

Oh no. “Marian!” Tessa hissed out of the corner of her mouth.

Cassandra, unfortunately, was a romantic at heart and she jumped in. “Tessa needs a ride to and from school. Some idiot rear ended her this morning.”

Cullen’s eyes widened and he stepped closer to the three women. “You got rear ended? Are you alright?” he asked, looking worried.

Brushing some loose hair away from her face, Tessa waved off the statement. “I’m fine. Really. And you don’t have to give me a—“

“I wouldn’t mind. Truly. O-Only if you want me to!” he interrupted, rubbing the back of his neck.

Oh God, he was being bashful again.

Tessa had discovered that Cullen was actually just as awkward as she was and that helped her be braver with their friendship.

“Perfect! Your ‘getting to work’ problem is solved,” Marian cheered, patting Tessa on the shoulder before dragging Cassandra away.

The door to the lounge promptly closed and Tessa stared after it for many moments.

While she was actually grateful for what just happened, she was still going to kill Eryn at practice.

“Do you really not mind me giving you a ride? You seemed…against it,” Cullen suddenly asked, leaning back against the counter next to Tessa.

Tessa suddenly realized that Cullen did not know the inner machinations of the Tessa-Eryn-Marian complex and that she probably seemed really ungrateful at the moment…which she wasn’t. “No! I really don’t mind, and thank you so much. I was still upset about something Marian, Cass, and I were talking about before you came in.”

He nodded and looked down at his full mug of tea in his hand. “Do you want to talk about it? I’m always willing to be an open ear.”

“I was telling them about how I won’t actually get my car back for a few weeks,” Tessa started, crossing her arms, “the mechanic called and said that not only did I get damage from being rear ended, but my axles and engine were having trouble too. I might just have to start saving for a new car.”

Cullen nodded in understanding before grinning a little. “Did the stickers survive?”

Tessa stared at him in mild shock for a moment. He usually wasn’t witty or the type to pull jokes. Yet, here he was. A giggle bubbled past her lips and she sighed dramatically. “Sadly, no. The stickers did not make it.”

“Such a shame. They all were important.”

Tessa tilted her head in curiosity, grinning. “I was meaning to ask what the great sociologist of the school thought of certain issues.”

“I actually focused on inequality in college…there were things I saw in the military police that inspired me to do so.” He looked melancholy now and he stared at the opposite wall.

Biting her lip, Tessa tried to think of something to say to cheer him up and she was drawing a blank.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to become a killjoy and—“

“You’re allowed to have feelings you know,” Tessa interrupted, shrugging her shoulders. “My grandpa saw a lot of bad things when he was in the Marines and he doesn’t like to talk about it either.”

Cullen stared at her for a moment before grinning a little, rubbing the back of his neck. “Thank you…most people usually want to know why.”

“I would be lying if I said I wasn’t curious, but I can see that it’s a cruddy subject,” Tessa explained, “Now, what time are you coming to be my chauffeur tomorrow morning?”

“How does 7:15 sound? It gives us time to be here a little early,” he suggested, rubbing the back of his neck again.

Tessa thought the action was cute. “That sounds fine.”

The bell rang and Tessa sighed. She now had to teach her Advanced Placement Biology class and as much as she loved the students in there, she wanted to keep talking to Cullen. He pushed away from the counter and he stepped over to the door, opening it for her.

“Thank you, I see you’re practicing for when you pick me up,” she teased, giving him a good natured wink as she walked out the door. Good Lord, where was her courage coming from?

“I can’t say that I’ve been in practice,” he retorted with a grin, following her down the hallway.

“So you’re not picking up girls constantly?” Tessa joked, glancing up at him.

Cullen spluttered, cheeks turning pink. “What?!”

Tessa couldn’t help but smile at his reaction. He truly was adorable sometimes. “Relax, I was kidding,” she laughed.

“I haven’t taken someone out on a date since the military police,” he grumbled, taking a drink of his tea.

Biting her lip, Tessa saw a window of opportunity and she decided to jump through it. “So, no one special caught your attention? Not even at Kirkwall?”

They stopped in their hallway and he looked down at her for many moments with an expression she couldn’t name before softly replying, “Not at Kirkwall.”

Oh, Jesus.

Tessa knew her face was still red when her class started.

* * *

Cullen was starting to look forward to his mornings more than he had ever done before.

Picking up Tessa and dropping her off had become the highlights of his day because it was just them being able to talk alone for 30 minutes or less, depending on traffic. The past week had honestly been the best in a long time and it was all because of that one hour in the day he spent talking to her.

Unfortunately, the more time he spent with her reminded him of why he wouldn’t be good for her in a romantic sense. He didn’t take her out for a drink like his colleagues kept suggesting to because…well, it would be embarrassing to explain why he drank non-alcoholic beer.

Tonight was an exception to their normal routine; he was actually picking her up in the evening because they both had to be chaperones at the Halloween dance at the school. The teachers were allowed to dress up too and Cullen just got his old knight costume out. His brother had given it to him years ago as a joke. He had asked Tessa what she was going to be and she told him that it was a surprise.

Her familiar figure was finally walking toward his car and he got out to open the door for her, like he did every time he picked her up.

Cullen consciously had to remind himself to not let his jaw drop when he saw her. He vaguely recognized the dress as something from a Disney film that even he knew about. His younger sister, Rosalie, loved it after all.

Tessa stopped and twirled, causing the dress to flare out around her legs. “What do you think? I haven’t worn it since sophomore year but I’m glad it still fits.”

Cullen would have never thought he would have liked to see Sleeping Beauty in the flesh, yet here he was. It wasn’t the elaborate dress from the end of the film, but the one the princess wore at the beginning of it.

Honestly, he preferred it on Tessa. Oh God, he was in trouble.

Then, he realized what he was wearing.

Oh shit, he was never going to hear the end of this from the rest of the faculty. Marian and Eryn had been dropping hints for months now and this past week had Cullen wondering if he should act on their hints.

“It looks great,” he managed to choke out.

She beamed up at him and Cullen had to use every ounce of his willpower to focus on opening the door for her and force himself to not look at her as he drove.

“Where did you get that outfit?” Tessa asked, tapping the plastic that made up the ‘armor’ he was wearing. It was mostly cloth with plastic sewed to it, but it did its job.

“My brother gave it to me as a joke years ago. I found it in my basement the other day.”

They remained silent for many moments and Cullen took a deep breath and tried to keep his voice light hearted and hopefully normal sounding. “So, a Disney Princess?”

Tessa blushed and tossed some of her hair over her shoulder. “One of my friends at Ostwick was really crafty and she made dresses all the time. We didn’t want to wear the sleazy outfits from the Halloween store one year so she made us all dresses. I honestly would make a bad Disney princess, I can’t sing a lick.”

Cullen couldn’t stop his laughter from escaping. “A princess that can’t sing?”

Tessa sighed dramatically. “I know. What is this world coming to?” She turned toward him a little with a big grin. “So, does this mean you’ll save me tonight if I need it, oh Sir Knight?”

Cullen stopped at a stop light and he looked at her and found himself falling into her eyes.

“I suppose so,” he said softly.

The light turned green again and Cullen quickly looked back at the road before he could embarrass himself further.

The school finally loomed into view. Only the teachers and parents and students responsible for setting up were there, thank goodness. Hopefully, Tessa would be pulled away from him by her other friends and he would have fewer opportunities to make a fool of himself.

That didn’t sound like a good idea either, though.

Cullen couldn’t stop trying to look for her the whole dance. He usually found her in the corner with Eryn or Cassandra. She was easily the most beautiful person in the room…at least in his opinion.

“Will you just ask her out already? You’re giving us all tension,” a haughty voice suddenly said.

Cullen crossed his arms and frowned at Dorian, who was dressed up as some sort of Greek God. “If I wanted your opinion, I would have asked for it,” Cullen retorted.

“It’s just like the Theirins all over again. It took them forever to figure it out. Well, for Alistair to figure it out,” Varric suddenly cut in. Varric was dressed as Austin Powers…again.

“Did you two plan your outfits, by the way? You could be her Prince Phillip and sweep her off her feet if you wanted,” Dorian commented. Both he and Varric wiggled their eyebrows suggestively.

Cullen glared at them. They both knew why he didn’t date. They both were around toward the beginning of his teaching career, after all. As much as he wanted to just put a label on what he was feeling for Tessa, he knew he wasn’t good for her. “You know very well that I’m the last person who should be—“

“Cullen,” Varric sternly interrupted, “We all know you had a rough patch a while back. Who doesn’t have those times? You just need to get your head out of your ass and move on from that already. I can confidently tell you that she’s into you. Now, if you excuse me, I think there’s a kid dealing drugs.”

The shorter man kept grumbling as he walked away to break up a group of students that were hanging out in the dark corner of the gym.

Dorian arched a brow after him. “You know he’s right.”

Cullen wiped a hand down his face. “Alright, say I do take her out on a date. Say something actually begins. I’m going to have to tell her that—“

“That you pulled yourself out of a deep shit hole with alcohol a few years ago. A shit hole that most people couldn’t pull themselves out of, mind you. I doubt our Miss Trevelyan would look down on you for that. Now, I know you’re concerned about the whole ‘don’t date co-workers’ thing, but I can tell you that it isn’t a problem in any way shape or form. Issac and I are fine, and we’re as dysfunctional as two people can get.”

Cullen knew that for a fact. Dorian had told Cullen—one drunken evening over drinks a couple years ago—that his dad kicked him out of his house when he opened up about his sexuality when he was 15 and Dorian had been basically on his own ever since. Issac Bull also served in the army, but he was a member of the Navy Seals and he saw more shit than Cullen had seen.

“Now, I’m going to go and make sure Sera isn’t trying to steal the cookies from the concession stand. You know how she is,” Dorian announced, leaving Cullen alone.

Cullen unintentionally found himself looking for Tessa again and he found her alone and surrounded by part of the JV soccer team. The girls were all chatting excitedly and Tessa had the biggest smile on her face.

It was almost as if the universe hated him because she looked over at him right as he told himself to stop staring and she said goodbye to the girls before making her way over to him. “You have admirers,” she teased, tilting her head toward the big group of girls.

Cullen frowned. “What?”

“They like your costume,” she giggled, leaning back against the wall next to him.

“Just what I always wanted. Teenage girls’ approval.”

Her bright laughter sounded above the music and Cullen found himself thinking about what Varric and Dorian said earlier. His fears and insecurities seemed to melt away the more he looked at her. Maybe Varric was right, he should just get his head out of his ass and take a chance.

Right as he finally found the courage to open his mouth and possibly ask her to go on a date, a teenage boy dressed up as Thor walked up to Tessa. “Wanna dance with me?” the boy mumbled, staring down at the floor.

A group of boys nearby howled with laughter and Cullen grit his teeth and stared ahead to keep from getting too annoyed. The kid in front of them was obviously uncomfortable and he didn’t fit in with the ‘in-crowd’ but he tried. Cullen had them all last year in World History and those boys were always making this student, Jim, do stupid stuff like this.

Tessa handled it with grace, which was hard to do in this situation. She kept her expression kind and she beamed at him. “I’m sorry, but I think it would be rude of me to dance with someone else in front of my prince here.”

Wait. What?

Tessa nudged him with her elbow and he guessed that meant ‘play along’.

Cullen crossed his arms and he saw what Tessa was doing. He winked at Jim to show that the tough act was a joke.

“But, I’m completely willing to talk to you until the song ends. How have you been, Jim?” she asked.

The relieved look on Jim’s face was worth acting like the tough guy.

Jim asking Tessa to dance was, in fact, a dare and he apologized profusely.

The song finally ended and Jim went back to his friends, who started teasing him immensely.

“I worry about him. They pick on him for getting good grades too. He’s brilliant in biology,” Tessa said as they walked away.

Cullen sighed and shook his head. “He’ll realize who his real friends are eventually. He has to learn on his own,” he paused and shrugged, “but that doesn’t stop me from keeping them apart by assigning seats in class.”

Tessa arched a brow up at him. “You assign seats?”

Cullen smirked. “I’ve noticed that the kids’ grades are higher when I do.”

“Look at you. You have it all figured out, don’t you?” she teased.

“Hardly,” Cullen snorted.

Unfortunately, the courage Cullen had managed to pull together at that part of the dance was nonexistent now and even more so when he was driving her home.

They stopped in front of her apartment complex and she smiled at him as she got out of the car. “Thank you for dragging me around. See you on Monday!”

Right as she shut the door, Cullen’s courage returned. Deciding to throw caution to the wind, he quickly leaped out of his car. “Tessa, wait.”

She stopped in her tracks and gave him a bewildered look as he quickly made his way to her side of the car. “Yes?”

“I actually want to see you tomorrow…maybe while getting coffee?”

She looked gorgeous, standing under the streetlamp in her costume. Her full lips were a little parted in surprise and she looked cute with her little basket and purple shawl over her costume. Oh God, did he make a mistake? She wasn’t answering. Sure, he hadn’t dated in a while, but even he knew that was a bad sign.

“I’m sorry. That was too much, wasn’t it? I’ll just go now,” he mumbled, turning to get back in his car.

A soft grip on his elbow stopped him. “I would love to,” she said when he finally looked at her again. She smiled up at him and Cullen’s heart started to race in his chest.

Wait, she said she wanted to. That was good.

“Er…how does 9 sound to you?” he asked, rubbing the back of his neck.

Her smile softened and a pretty blush appeared on her cheeks. “Sounds perfect.”

Cullen had to remind himself to thank Varric and Dorian sometime soon.


	4. Spiders

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> heard a scream and thought you were getting killed but it was just a spider college au

Cullen had once vowed he would never stay up til 3 o’ clock in the morning to write a paper. That didn’t last long halfway into his freshman year. 

Now, the grizzled senior was wondering if he was going to be pulling another all-nighter this week as he shuffled back to his dorm room. Salvation was in reach as he reached his hallway and he could see his door. His shoulders drooped as he thought of actually sleeping in his bed and he remembered that he didn’t have class until 1. 

Maybe this night wont be so bad after all. 

All of the sleepiness was sucked out of him when he heard a blood curdling shriek from the room next to his. 

His sleep deprived mind went into panic, automatically assuming the worst. What the hell was happening? Was she hurt? Did she fall out of bed? 

Before he could decide what to do, a girl was stumbling out of the room and scrambling to get to the other side of the hall as fast as possible. 

“Kill it!” she yelped, pointing frantically at the floor right inside her room. 

Cullen peered around the door jamb and he almost started laughing at the absurdity of it all. 

It was a spider that couldn’t be larger than a penny. “Why don’t you—“

“Please kill it!” she hissed, holding up the notebook she was holding as a shield. 

Cullen couldn’t help but feel amused by the whole situation as he stomped on the intruder. 

The girl peered over the top of her notebook and she let out a long sigh. 

“Thank you so much. My roommate usually kills them but she’s over at her boyfriend’s right now.” 

Cullen held his hand up and helped her up. “Glad to help,” he said around a yawn. 

The yawn was stifled when he realized just who the hell he was looking at. 

It was the girl from Intro to Sociology. He was the TA for that class and the worst thing happened during the first month of the semester. He developed a crush. He immediately noticed her from across the room and he had wanted to get to know her ever since. She was brilliant in the discussions during class. And she had a witty sense of humor and her handwriting was damn near perfect. He only knew that last part because he graded so many of the short answer questions on the tests. He always saw her around campus doing something. She never sat still and he wondered how she was able to manage that. 

Who would have thought she was deathly afraid of spiders?

His whole body started to heat up when he realized she was only in a tank top and shorts, revealing her long, shapely legs and elegant arms. 

“Well, I better get back to bed. Thank you, Cullen!”

She…remembered his name? He was just TA to the other students in that class. 

Without another word, she reached up on the tips of her toes and pressed a small peck to his cheek. She gave him a big grin before stepping back into her room and closing the door. 

Cullen was torn between punching a fist in the air in victory or face palming himself. 

How did he not know she lived next to him?!

Granted, he practically lived in the library so he wouldn’t notice people walking in and out of their rooms at ungodly hours like this, but nevertheless, why didn’t he know this?

And two, she gave him a kiss. That was a good sign, right?

Or was he overthinking it? 

Deciding not to worry about it, he practically skipped back into his room. 

Hopefully another spider would bother her soon.


	5. Club

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Blame Pony by Ginuwine and Talking Body by Tov Lo for this. Just a little headcanon for my Inquisitor. She can work it. Hawke on the other hand...naw.

“This is ridiculous,” Cullen huffed. The poor man was tempted to cover his ears to block out the pounding bass from the speakers around him. 

“Hey, it’s Marian’s bachelorette party, what were you expecting?” Alistair shouted over the music. They were both looking for their girlfriends on the dancefloor. 

“They do remember we were picking them up right?” Cullen bellowed, trying to find Tessa’s familiar figure in the crowd. 

“Eryn’s staying sober, remember?”

“Who stays sober around, Marian Hawke?”

Alistair’s eyes widened and Cullen knew he won. He weaved his way through the crowd, hoping to run into their girlfriends so they could _leave_. 

The club was one of the nicest in town, so there was a generous crowd there. The bass was low enough to make his teeth rattle and he was getting sick of the crowd around him. A slower, sultry song started to play and that was when Cullen saw her. 

Tessa had half of her hair pulled back and the rest fell in soft curls halfway down her back. She was wearing a high-waisted skirt that should have been illegal and an emerald green crop top that showed the perfect amount of skin. Her heels were making her legs look even longer and Cullen forgot how to breath. Cullen found himself getting lost in the moment as he watched her roll her hips along with the music. 

Cullen loved Tessa’s arse, and he thanked the Maker for allowing him to see her dance like this, flaunting that perfect, round arse with every roll of her body. 

His eyes trailed up her waist, toward her breasts, the low neckline of her top and finally her face. He can tell she had been drinking, but only enough to be buzzed. She bit her lip as she rolled her body again and Cullen suddenly forgot why he was there.

He knew she could dance. She always had music playing at home and he could always find her dancing. But this was different. The way she rolled her hips to the bass reminded him of the way she rolled her hips when she rode him. The way she let her head drop back reminded him of how she would throw her head back as she came around him. 

Fuck. 

“Maker’s balls,” Alistair cursed loudly.

Cullen glanced at Alistair and saw that he was having a similar problem, only Eryn had noticed him and started putting on her own little show for Alistair. Cullen quickly looked back toward his girlfriend. 

Marian, meanwhile, was shimmying to her own beat next to Tessa. 

Tessa finally noticed him and she bit her lip when their eyes met. Her hands slowly lifted and she trailed them over her waist. She flipped her hair as she moved into her next body roll and the heated look she gave him was almost Cullen’s undoing. 

Shit.

Before he knew what he was doing, Cullen was striding toward her. A song he actually knew started to play and Cullen possessively pulled her close. He let his fingers trail along the bare skin above the waist of her skirt as he nuzzled his nose against her neck. “Enjoying yourself?” he said in her ear. 

Her arms wrapped around his shoulders and he felt her nod. 

Cullen choked back his reply when she rolled her hips against him, trying to get him to move with her. 

Cullen-who was a former Templar and devout Andrastian-could say he never in his life danced like this. But this was Tessa. This was the woman he was in love with. This was the woman who _knew_ him. 

And that was why he started to move with her. 

He couldn’t deny her, even if he wanted to. 

Her fingers dug into his hair, holding him close to her as their bodies started to rock with the music. Every roll of her hips, every brush of her breasts against his chest, every one of her hot breaths against his neck was driving him insane. 

The bass that annoyed him before was driving him on now. The crowd that was pressing and overwhelming before became a reason to press even closer to her. Maker’s breath, he could still smell her perfume as he pressed kisses to her neck. The flowery scent was still mingled in with the smell of her sweat and the lingering smell of the club on her. 

They were basically grinding against each other now and Cullen almost lost himself when she rolled her whole body against him. He returned it with a sharp thrust of his hips and her eyes lit up in delight. 

The song ended and went back to one he didn’t know and that was when they stopped moving. 

“Hello,” she laughed, trailing her fingers up the back of his neck toward the nape of his hair, “Aren’t you supposed to be dragging us out of here, not dancing?”

Cullen smirked at her-he knew what that did to her-and he was satisfied to see her pupils widen and her lips fall slightly open as he did. He felt her quick intake rather than saw it she was pressed so close to him still. “You know that arse of yours if pretty distracting,” he said without thinking. 

She bit her lip as she smiled and she tugged on his hair. “So you like it when I dance, hm? Maybe I should play that song more often at home.”

Cullen would never say no to that.


	6. Coffee and French Fries

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ”it’s 2am and i’m drunk and i need some goddamn french fries right now so open your fucking door’ AU

Solas honestly loved sleeping. He loved it so much he went to painstaking ends to ensure everything was perfect before he fell asleep. The curtains were drawn, the door was locked, the temperature was perfect, and not one of his blankets was out of place.

Tonight…wasn’t perfect.

And it all started with a pounding sound from his living room.

Solas grumbled, pulled his pillow over his head and tried to block the noise.

The pounding only got louder.

Who in the Void could be trying to visit at this time?!

With an angry snarl, Solas finally got up and didn’t even bother to grab his robe before yanking his door open. He stomped down the hallway out to his front room. He wrenched the door open and opened his mouth to tell the person to bugger off, but it died in his throat.

The woman who worked at the bakery across the street from his bookshop was standing on his doorstep.

Her eyes were a little red and she was wobbling on her feet and Solas could smell the faint smell of vodka from where he stood.

Oh, shit.

He didn’t know much about the woman, only that she was quiet and only as polite as she had to be when she worked behind the counter at the bakery. He always got coffee there every morning and he had no reason to dislike her. She wobbled a little more for a moment and that squeezed out the last of his anger and replaced it with confusion. Why was she here?

“French fries, now,” she suddenly said. Before he could react, she was stepping by him with a gliding grace no drunk person should have. She plopped down in one of his dining room chairs and started to play with his salt shaker.

Solas shut his door, fully intending to kick her out, but the solemn look on her face stopped him. Dammit. He suddenly noticed her pointed ears and realized the beanie she wore to work would hide them perfectly. He supposed he could help a fellow elf…if only for a moment.

“What makes you think I have French fries?” he asked, stepping closer to her. He realized his state of undress, just wearing a sleep shirt and boxers, but he didn’t think the drunk woman cared.

She surprised him by pulling a bag of frozen French fries from her heavy jacket and dropping them on the table. She pulled the hood of her jacket over her head. “Here. Nice boxers," she paused and gave him an intense stare before snorting and saying, "Black Coffee."

Of course she would call him what he ordered every morning at the bakery. 

Her eyes zeroed in on him expectantly and Solas sighed before swiping them up and stepping into his kitchen. He pulled out a cookie sheet and dumped the fries on it and stuck them in the oven. As he set the temperature and time, he took the time to glance at her. He thought he heard her mumble something in elvhen, but he ignored it.

“Stupid human jerk.” She rested her arms on the table before resting her head on them. He saw her Vallaslin and wondered why she was this far in the city. The Dalish usually had their own reservations and didn’t leave them.

The question burned in his mind every time he bought coffee from her, but he never pried.

“What’s wrong, da'len?”

Her head whipped up at the term and she blinked in surprise. “You speak elvhen? Lucky me, attractive and elfy.”

Solas rubbed the back of his neck. How does one respond to that?! His sleep muddled mind spoke for him. “This attractive elf might have a masters degree in elhven lore and history,” he muttered. He turned back to his cabinets and pulled out two mugs. Looks like he wasn’t going back to sleep anytime soon.

Her brow furrowed and Solas found himself thinking it was cute…for a moment. He reminded himself of the rude wakeup call and the thought disappeared.

“What are you doing running a bleeding bookshop then?” she huffed, resting her head back on her arms again. 

“I don’t have the funds to run the excavating projects I want to, so I’m here, da'len.”

She grinned and buried her face further into her arms. “Say da'len again. I’ve been homesick.”

Solas wondered if he should mention that he can understand elvhen, which was what she just mumbled in, but he decided not to.

Solas filled his teapot with water and set it on the stove. He checked on the fries before sitting across from her. “Why did you come here?” he finally asked.

She glared at him for a moment before looking away toward the window. Solas suddenly realized how sad she was. “Because I have nowhere else to go,” she grumbled, hiccupping a little.

“What do you mean?”

She whipped her head around, looking down her nose at him. “I have nowhere else to go. My disgustin’, rottin’ excuse of a roommate kicked me out of my own apartment and I bet all of my shit is sittin’ on the side of the road right now and the only thing I could grab was that sorry excuse the humans call food and my damn vodka. I can’t get into the bakery right now and you get your gross black coffee every day so I assumed you weren’t a creep or something.”

Solas arched a brow, not knowing what to say.

Well, that explained many things. The oven beeped right as the tea kettle started whistling and he stood up to quickly get both the tea and the French fries ready. All of his irritation was officially gone after her outburst. Sympathy was all that remained. He forgot the last time he felt it.

He pulled out his green tea and stuck the bags in the mugs before pouring the water into them. The smell of pine needles and leaves suddenly filled his senses and the woman was already opening the oven. A wave of heat fell over them both and Solas turned his head just in time to see the hood of her jacket fall back, revealing short, curly, choppy auburn hair in an undercut style. She picked up a nearby potholder and pulled the sheet out and set it on the stove.

She tossed it aside before slumping heavily against the counter.

Solas set the mug next to her and he sighed before tugging on her hood. “You can sleep on the couch tonight, da'len.”

He picked up his own mug and started to make his way to his room.

“Ma serannas, hahren.”

Solas glanced over his shoulder to see her looking at him with tear filled eyes again. She sniffed, wiping her face with her sleeve before plucking a French fry from the sheet and munching on it.

He suddenly didn’t want to leave, so he just sat at his table again.

The soft patter of feet warned him of her return to the table. She tossed the pot holder from before on the table and set the pan on it. She sat down again before reaching forward and popping another French fry in her mouth.

“What’s your name, da'len?”

She swallowed her food before glancing down at the mug in her hands. “Cvita.”

Solas reached across and held out his hand. “I’m Solas.”

“I know you daft tit, I write it on your cup of gross coffee every morning,” she replied with a playful smirk.

Solas stared at her for a moment before letting a string of chuckles escape. “I apologize if my coffee is so disgusting.”

Cvita scrunched her nose before stuffing another fry into her mouth. “Well, it is. You do nothing to it and I wonder why you even bother buying something anyone can make.”

The drunken slur from earlier was slowly disappearing and Solas was finding himself more intrigued about this elf with every moment that passed by. A pretty blush had also settled on her high cheekbones, giving her a youthful look that didn’t match the crow’s feet at the corners of her eyes.

Why was she not with her clan? Why was she working at a bakery of all places? Why did she pick the Vallaslin for Mythal? She could probably answer some questions he had, since none of the Dalish were willing to be interviewed before.

“Perhaps it’s part of my routine,” he retorted, plucking a fry for himself.

“It’s a disgusting part of your routine. Who drinks coffee black these days?”

“I do.”

Cvita threw back her head with a full laugh. “Then you’re a rare breed, hahren. You’re the only black coffee I serve.”

Solas didn’t know why, but he was glad he was.

He didn’t even mind when he realized it was five o’ clock in the morning and only half of the French fries were eaten.

They were too busy discussing halla to notice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cvita belongs to my sister, http://124gcode541.tumblr.com/ and we went through many debates about how this was written and we finally got it =) 
> 
> Expect more of this spunky Lavellan in the future


	7. Vhenan and Amatus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: How drunk are you? (DorianxLavellan)

“Just how drunk are you?”

Aren lifted up the empty bottle of whiskey. Creators, how much did his boyfriend inhale? It wasn’t even 2 in the afternoon. 

Dorian waved the question off, flailing to take the bottle from Aren’s hand. “Very. Now give it back!”

Aren rolled his eyes. “It’s empty.”

“No it isn’t! Let me see!”

Aren, knowing he wouldn’t get Dorian to talk sooner by arguing, just let him hold and study the bottle. 

“Kaffas!” 

The whiskey bottle was roughly pushed across the kitchen table and it toppled over the edge, landing on the plush carpet in their dining room. Aren didn’t say anything and just leaned back against the table beside Dorian. He knew Dorian would tell him what was wrong, he just had to get over his pride first. 

Dorian held his head in his hands for many moments. The only sound that could be heard was the sound of their neighbor’s kids next door and the ticking of the clock. 

Aren had anticipated coming home to spend some quality time with Dorian before Dorian had to leave for his next business trip, but it seemed that wasn’t the case.

Dorian turned and rested his forehead against one of Aren’s crossed arms. “They know.”

Aren’s heart sunk and he had a feeling he knew what Dorian was talking about, but he wished he didn’t. “You’ll have to be more specific, vhenan.”

“My parents fucking know about us.”

The elf nodded, and uncrossed his arms, forcing Dorian to look up at him. “I thought you didn’t care about-“

“I’m not drinking myself into a stupor because of what they think. It’s because of what they said about you! How they know about you, I don’t know, but they called you-“

Dorian cut himself off and started to fume silently, staring angrily at the wall across from him. 

Ah, that’s what was bothering him.

At the beginning of their relationship, Dorian didn’t truly understand what Aren went through, being an elf and all. He didn’t see the sideways glances or the stares at Aren’s vallaslin and ears. He didn’t know about how job searching was hundreds of times harder because no one wants to hire a ‘knife-ear’. He didn’t know about the vandalism. He didn’t know about much, to be honest. 

Dorian only saw what happened in Tevinter. He had once told Aren (when he was drunk) that he hated how he didn’t see any of it before and how angry he was now when he did see it. 

“Vhenan, I-“

“Don’t say it’s alright! It’s not alright that the man I love is treated this way just because of his fucking ears!”

Aren’s heart clenched for a moment and his throat started to close. He swallowed heavily and he smiled. Creators, this man was something else.

Arrogant and pompous one moment, incredibly passionate and loyal the next. Aren wouldn’t have had Dorian any other way. 

“Do you think that way?”

“Of course not! Why would you ask me that?” Dorian snapped, giving him a hard stare. 

Aren shrugged. “Your opinion is the only one that matters to me. I could give a nug’s arse about whether your parents disapprove of you dating an elf or not.”

He pushed off the table and went to go make himself a sandwich. While he loved how passionate Dorian was about these things, he was melodramatic. 

_That_ , he thought, _is why we work so well together._

Aren hated drama and he usually could care less about other people’s opinions.

Dorian, on the other hand, was raised to think differently. 

“You’re impossible! How can you not care that-“

“That the people who purposefully shunned you and tried to change you don’t like me? I say it’s a blessing.”

The two men stared at each other until Dorian finally slumped down in his seat, rubbing his temples. “Fuck.”

Aren knew if he didn’t do something quick, Dorian would most likely get himself into an even worse state by grabbing another bottle. “Vhenan.”

Dorian didn’t look at him at first, but Aren knew he was fighting over whether to continue the argument or move on. Dorian finally looked up at him again, huffing. “Doesn’t saying that pet name ruin your ‘tough soldier boy’ attitude?”

Aren happened to know Dorian loved being called Vhenan. And he didn’t give a shit about whether he sounded tough or not when he saw Dorian smile after saying it.

“No, I love you. What does that have to do with the fact I’m a soldier?” Aren chuckled, moving toward the kitchen again. 

Saying the phrase got the response he wanted. Dorian never seemed to be able to keep his hands to himself whenever Aren told him he loved him. 

This time wasn’t an exception. 

“Get back here so I can love your elven arse properly, Amatus.”

There was the Dorian he knew.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I always loved the idea of Dorian being with Lavellan because of the differences between them. Lavellan grew up with his clan while Dorian grew up with the Silver Spoon in his mouth. 
> 
> The two different worlds colliding always struck a special cord with me.
> 
> And the Dorian romance is cute no matter what anyone says. I will fight people on this.


	8. Phwoar

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: "I saw that. You just checked me out." (SeraxAdaar)

“I saw that. You just checked me out!”

Thalia was mortified. And she knew Sera knew she was mortified. “I-I wasn’t! I was looking at your…”

Arse. And everything else, a sarcastic voice grumbled in her brain. 

Thankfully, Sera didn’t look offended in the least. “I’m alrigh’ with you doin’ it. I love big and... phwoar anyway.”

The two women were standing on the roof of Sera’s apartment building, which Thalia was pretty sure was not allowed. Sera had insisted, and Thalia was a weak woman. 

“What’s phwoar?” Thalia asked. The word didn’t leave her mind after Sera said it and she wondered if it was a good or bad thing.

Sera snickered and pointed up at Thalia’s horns. “Ya know. Horns, big tits, and all. I love it.”

Being a qunari Tal-vashoth in southern Thedas, frankly, was shit. Thalia always had to deal with the suspicion and fear that came with her appearance. She saw it no matter where she went. 

Until a blonde elf girl offered her sweets and asked her out on a date.

Now, there she was, on her third date with the weird, yet cute elf and wondering how to go about this. 

She wanted this to be something. She desperately wanted this to be something that could become real, but she was scared of being disappointed if it wasn’t. She really liked Sera. Sera was always joking around and making her laugh. Even her weird phrases were adorable to Thalia. And Sera never made her feel less when she mentioned she was a qunari. Comments that would have had Thalia’s fist meeting a person’s face before was now met with bumbling and stutters. 

The difference was that Sera never made it sound bad to be a qunari. 

When someone else would talk about her horns, Thalia would become angry and self-conscious. Sera talked about them like they were no different from her own straw-blonde hair. 

When other’s mentioned how tall or big she was, she would cringe inside and would start wishing for the willowy frame that was considered attractive on human women. 

Sera made it sound like it was the best thing in the world. 

“Look at me, you!”

Thalia took a deep breath and finally looked at Sera again and she squeaked when the elf leaped up and wrapped her arms around her neck. 

Thalia instantly clamped her arms around Sera’s waist and her mind went numb when Sera’s lips met hers.

Sweet Maker.

They must have looked comical, with Thalia holding Sera off the ground and kissing. 

She didn’t care.


	9. Impossible

“Varric. Shut. Up.”

“I mean, come on Pentaghast. We all know you have an eye on the new guy. Just admit it and ask him out for a drink or something.”

Cassandra snorted behind her beer, refusing to blush. 

The deep bass playing from the speakers of the bar was drowning out any noise outside of their conversation. 

The stupid dwarf was talking about Connor Trevelyan, who looked like he belonged in a cave with his dark red hair pulled back in a bun. The heavy stubble on his jaw only supported her point. The man had no sense of seriousness at all when he was in the police station. Cassandra was sure he was different on patrol, but it still annoyed her to no end. 

The other infuriating thing was that Connor _flirted_ with her. Actually FLIRTED with her. She couldn’t remember the last time a man wasn’t scared to do so. 

She _refused_ to be attracted to that bear of a man. She tried not to notice how rich the blue in his eyes was. She didn’t think she found his broad, strong stature impressive. And she absolutely refused to like his smile, which was crooked and a little boyish. 

No, she refused. She had more important things to worry about. 

“Don’t be silly. Why would he want to have a drink with me?”

Varric smirked and held his glass up, gesturing to the door. “Ask him yourself.”

Cassandra’s stomach sunk down to the floor as she glanced over her shoulder. A wave of heat rushed through her when she saw Connor Trevelyan standing at the door to the bar. His curly hair was pulled back into its usual bun and a few locks were curling on his forehead. Cassandra cursed the Maker and Andraste when she saw what he was wearing. 

It was one of her weaknesses. 

His button up shirt had the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and it was undone, revealing the fitted t-shirt underneath. 

Aaaaand, he was walking this way. 

“I hate you,” she hissed to Varric. 

“Hey New Guy!” Varric greeted, ignoring Cassandra. 

“Hey Shorty,” Connor laughed, giving Varric a high five as he stopped by their table. 

“Ugh.”

“Hello Seeker.”

An involuntary shiver ran through Cassandra. Connor’s already deep voice would always drop even lower when he talked to her. His accent sounded like it was from Starkhaven, only smoother.

“Hmph.”

“Have a seat,” Varric chuckled, gesturing to the empty seat beside Cassandra.

Cassandra, meanwhile, was thinking of all the ways she could maim and thank the dwarf at the same time.

“Gladly,” the man slowly slid into the seat next to her and he gave her a curious glance, “Varric didn’t tell me you’d be here, Seeker.”

“Varric is a natural liar. Don’t be surprised if it happens again.”

“You wound me, Seeker,” Varric chuckled, taking another drink of his beer. 

“Hmph.”

Cassandra tried to ignore Trevelyan as best as she could. But the Maker seemed to hate her in particular that night. 

He kept brushing up against her and that boyish grin always appeared toward her. 

Soon, it was midnight and Cassandra never let herself stay out later than that. One crazy night with Leliana was enough to cure her of that need. 

But, in her attempts to ignore Trevelyan, she drank more than she usually did and she found herself feeling a little giddy as the three of them left the bar. Varric, who had impeccable alcohol tolerance, was perfectly fine with taking his car. Cassandra huffed, causing her breath turn to vapor in the cold winter air. 

“Can I walk you home?”

Cassandra’s eyes widened as she looked up at Trevelyan. Maker, how did she not notice how tall he was? 

“I’ll be fine,” she said curtly, starting down the sidewalk. The ice wasn’t helping at all. 

“Cassandra, please, let me walk you home. You’re not in your tip top ass kicking state right now,” he pushed, poking her arm. 

It took her a moment to try to swat his hand away and she realized he had a point. “Fine, but only because what you said is true.”

The boyish grin appeared again as he tucked his hands into his coat pocket. The winter air was frigid and their thick coats didn’t seem to effectively keep out the cold. Occasionally, the swish of their coats would sound out when they walked too closely together. 

The silence was…oddly comfortable. 

But silence was also a problem.

Cassandra’s tipsy mind started to think for her. _Why_ did he flirt with her? Why did he say things like she was impressive, beautiful, or adorable? She was impressive, yes. But beautiful and adorable? 

No. 

He had to be joking or something. 

They ended up walking by the park near her apartment. They stopped in front of her building and they waited hesitantly. Cassandra didn’t know what to say…and that was when the question blurted it’s way out of her mouth. “Why?”

“Hm?”

Cassandra grabbed his arm, forcing him to look at her. “The flirting. With me. I’ve…noticed it. Unless it’s my imagination, which is entirely possible.”

Andraste preserve her, what was she saying?! 

She was going to _kill_ Varric for inviting Trevelyan out to drinks.

Trevelyan’s brows rose for a moment before that damn too-cute-too-exist grin appeared again. He stepped a little closer to her, forcing her to crane her neck to look up at him. “No it’s not your imagination,” he rumbled. 

Since when was any Free Marcher accent attractive? That shouldn’t have been attractive.

“You cannot like me. That’s impossible,” she managed to argue, furrowing her brow. 

It was impossible. She was brutish. She was assertive. She got things done. Nothing most men would want in a woman. _There is a chance that is what he wants_ , a hopeful voice whispered in her head. 

“Why can I not like you?” he chuckled. Oh Maker, his eyes were crinkled at the corners now and she found it adorable. 

“Because…Because you’re not doing it properly! You can’t just flirt with me a couple times and just expect me to fall at your feet!” 

“What do you want, Cassandra? For me to do things the old fashioned way?” Trevelyan easily asked, tilting his head. He looked more curious now than anything.

“No,” she curtly replied, starting to briskly walk away from him. The alcohol was wearing off and she was feeling more sure of herself. 

But she regretted her words. He was right. She was old fashioned. While she wanted to be respected as his colleague, she wanted to feel—dare she say it—feminine and wanted. “I take it back. That is what I want.”

She turned and stepped close to him again, forcing herself to stare into those deep, blue eyes. “I want a man who sweeps me off my feet, who gives me flowers and reads me poetry by candlelight. I want the ideal.”

Trevelyan’s grin grew and he slowly reached up to take her gloved hand in his own. “You really feel this way?”

Cassandra snorted, finally looking away from him. “I know what you see. I am an officer. I am blunt and difficult and self-righteous. But I am still a woman.”

Trevelyan’s grin widened and he brought their joined hands up to his lips, pressing a kiss to the back of her hand. “I do see that, and that is why I flirt with you. You know what you want. I don’t want games either.”

Cassandra snorted again and tried to pull her hand away, but he wouldn’t let her go. “Liar.”

“Varric is the good liar. I, however, never could master the skill. Believe me when I say I am perfectly serious about everything I say to you.”

He had asked her out to coffee more times than she could count. He always seemed to drop by her desk more often than some of the other officers. He told her she looked good some days and while she wanted to say he was being an arse with it, he never was. It was always done politely and respectfully. 

“Cassandra, I am interested in you. But if you don’t want this, tell me, and I’ll stop. I never meant to make you uncomfortable, _leannan._ ”

She didn’t know what he just called her…but she wanted to hear it again. “I never said I didn’t want it!” she argued. “I just think it’s impossible!”

“Why?” he asked again, eyes twinkling with mirth. 

Cassandra pulled away and gestured to all of him. “Because you’re…you’re…”

He was the definition of an Eastern Free Marcher. He was tall. Broad. Built as thick as a Qunari and had the rugged, chiseled face to match it. The sharp line of his jaw and broad set of his chin should have been illegal and his nose was slightly crooked from being broken one too many times. His eyes were deep set and always twinkling under his thick brows. His hair was a deep, dark red and it curled adorably. And his voice had that deep lilt that should have sounded Starkhaven, but it was smoother than that. 

To be frank, he was gorgeous in his own way. 

Why would he want a woman with scars on her face and the barely feminine body to match? 

As she said, she was an officer. She didn’t take crap from anyone.

“Can I prove you wrong, _leannan_?”

Cassandra dared to look him in the eye. Should she give this a chance? She was never one to doubt herself and her decisions. She had decided to not get involved at first, believing he was just making fun of her at first. 

But the earnest, borderline ‘kicked puppy look’ was making her question his motives, even if his earlier words didn’t already. 

“Surprise me,” she finally said. 

With that, she grabbed his scarf, pulled him down to her level and pressed a kiss to his stubbled cheek before marching up to her apartment door. 

She would just have to see what he would do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried to base Connor off of Sam Heughan from Outlander, but an older version of him. And I like the idea of the Free Marches having some parts sounding Scottish and others sounding Irish. Ostwick being the Scottish and the further west you get it sounds more Irish or British, depending on how far South or North you are. I don't know, its just an idea I had and want to stick with.


	10. Puns

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ‘I write a bad pick up line on your cup every time I’m your barista’ AU Hawke x Fenris

Fenris loved coffee. 

He never was allowed to have it when he wanted to in his foster home so he always indulged himself when he went out on his own. 

Every morning, he would go into the café near his apartment and get the five dollar drink his foster parents were too cheap to buy, despite the fact they were rich. Those 15 to 20 minutes of his morning spent on the coffee usually gave him the start he needed for his day. 

Then, the new barista came into his life. 

Fenris remembered her because she never commented on his tattoos. She never commented on his hair or ears like most people did. She just gave him a charming wink and a smile every time he saw her. 

He never truly paid attention to her until he noticed something on his coffee cups in the morning. 

Beside his name were the cheesiest pick-up lines he had ever seen. Today’s was “I don’t have a library card, is it okay if I check you out?”

Yesterday’s was “My doctor said I’m lacking Vitamin U.”

Over the next few weeks, Fenris started to keep the cups from the café. They were starting to slowly turn into a stack on his kitchen counter and he would pull them out to look at them sometimes. 

After a month of this, he finally decided he would talk to her. What could he say back? He wasn’t cheesy or funny. He wouldn’t be able to pull off a pick-up line if he tried. It had been a while since someone had shown interest in him. He decided to see if she was just joking or not. 

He watched her as he stood in line. Her curly hair was barely held back with a headband and some of the dark tendrils still managed to escape and rest on her forehead. Her dark brown eyes were warm and humorous as she charmed her customers and she always seemed to have a wry smirk on her lips. The long, proud bridge of her nose only enhanced her face and Fenris wondered why he never took the time to notice her sooner. 

Frankly, she was beautiful. 

He started to mentally prepare himself as he got closer and closer to the cash register. Thankfully, he was the last person in line for now so he wouldn’t be rushed. 

It was finally his turn and Fenris stared up at the menu, using it as a distraction while he still thought. The barista waited patiently and Fenris glanced down at her name tag. Marian. A beautiful name for a beautiful woman it seemed. 

“I’ll have the Kirkwall Fog,” he said, deciding on tea today. 

Marian smiled and wrote his name down and Fenris wondered what she was writing on it today. Before he could think, he spoke. “Why do you do it?”

She looked up from her writing with wide eyes. Her mouth dropped open a little before she smirked again. “What can I say? I’m helpless when it comes to attractive elves. And you always looked glum so…puns usually help my day. Sorry if it bothers you. This will be the last one.”

Fenris couldn’t believe it. She was actually attracted to him? 

Again, his mouth moved before his thoughts. “When they’re written by a beautiful woman, it’s hard to not like them.”

Her mouth dropped open and her eyes widened and he thought she looked adorable for a moment before she recovered. “I’m sorry, I didn’t hear that first part clearly.”

She set his finished cup of tea on the counter and he smirked right back. “I look forward to the next pun.”

He sauntered off with a little more pep in his step and he waited until he was outside to look at the cup. 

“If you were a booger I’d pick you first.” 

For once, Fenris laughed out loud.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Humorous Hawke would do this.


	11. Elevator

Mornings were usually disasters for Tessa, but this one took the cake. 

She forgot it was daylight savings and now she was an hour behind everyone else. Her dumb phone didn’t go with the time change either. Now, she was 30 minutes late to work and she was almost getting ready to panic. She had just started this job a month ago and she couldn’t believe she was already screwing up. 

Finally, she reached the Veterans Hospital she worked at and she raced over to the elevator. She pressed the ‘up’ button furiously, grumbling under her breath the whole time. 

The damn elevator finally reached her floor and Tessa hurried on, pressing the button for the 10th floor. She pressed the ‘close doors’ button probably about 20 times before it finally closed. Her anxiety didn’t lessen as it started to go up. Oh Maker, the charge nurse was going to kill her. 

The elevator stopped and Tessa had to hold back a groan. Great, now she had to wait even longer. 

The doors opened and every frantic thought flew out of her brain. 

Oh no. This could NOT be happening. 

Cullen Rutherford stepped into the elevator, looking as cool and collected as he always did and he almost pressed the same floor she had. He shrugged when he saw it was already lit and he stepped back to lean against the other side of the elevator. 

Tessa wished the elevator floor would open up and drop her like in a cartoon. She was the nurse on a PTSD unit here and Cullen was a speaker that usually came and led a couple therapy groups once or twice a week. Being a former soldier that was once in their shoes, he was the perfect man for the job. Tessa had a crush immediately when she saw him. She hated how the other nurses teased her when she basically hid in the nurse’s station the first time he came. 

Who could blame her? The man was gorgeous. His blond hair was always perfectly combed and he had a sexy scar on his lip. And he obviously didn’t stop exercising after his service in the army because damn. She glanced at how his button up shirt perfectly stretched across his chest. He even had on heavy rimmed glasses today and that just made him better looking in her opinion. 

Tessa knew nothing was possible and she always tried to stay out of his way. She was just a young nurse right out of school. Whenever he saw her, it was usually in unflattering scrubs because the Veterans hospital’s dress code only allowed three colors of a certain brand. And she never wore her hair down or wore make-up because she was advised not to by her supervisors. And why would he want her with her round butt and squishy tummy? 

Nope, he was out of her league big time and she didn’t get her hopes up. 

The elevator let out a ding after every floor it passed and Tessa couldn’t stop biting her lip. Oh Maker, what was she going to tell Vivienne? Her supervisor never tolerated tardiness and she honestly terrified Tessa. It was common for someone to be late on daylight savings every once in a while, right?

The light for floor 8 flickered a little and Tessa tilted her head as she stared at it. Elevators weren’t supposed to do that, right?

She glanced over at Cullen and he noticed it too. “Why is it—“ he started to say, then the elevator jolted. 

Tessa yelped as she was thrown off balance and her mind froze when she was caught by two strong arms. Maker, just kill her now. Cullen helped her get her balance again and he was scowling at the elevator’s button panel. “Are you alright?”

“Y-Yeah,” Tessa managed to stammer as she slightly stepped away from him. 

The elevator jolted again, causing Tessa to almost screech before it halted completely. Shit, this couldn’t be happening. 

Tessa looked over at Cullen and their eyes met. Maker, his eyes were such a pretty brown. She inwardly shook herself, telling herself to get a grip and think about how she was going to get out of this. 

“Well, at least the power isn’t out,” he said, looking up at the light.

The Maker must have hated them both especially today because not even two seconds later, the lights shut off. 

Tessa groaned and let her head fall back. Just her luck, she was late to work and stuck in an elevator with the man she had a horrible crush on. Then again, the second part may not have been entirely bad luck. 

The glare of a phone lighting up shone in the darkness and Cullen turned on the flashlight, looking around the elevator. “Well, looks like the group discussion on coping isn’t happening today.”

Tessa deflated a little. She knew how much some of the patients loved that group and needed it. “That’s a shame. I know a lot of them love it.”

She saw his mouth quirk up into a grin before he went over to the panel of buttons. He pressed a few before letting out a long sigh. “Well, it’s official, we’re stuck.”

Tessa sent a quick text to Vivienne, hoping that the Charge Nurse didn’t completely hate her now, before slumping against the side of the elevator. Cullen stood next to her, holding his phone out for light. 

An awkward silence hung over them, and Tessa wished she knew what to do in situations like this. She felt like she should start a conversation, but she couldn’t think of one thing to talk about. 

“When did you start working at the hospital?” he asked, glancing down at her.

“A-About a month ago. What about you?”

Cullen rubbed the back of his head. “I decided to do it shortly after I got out of here myself. I know what they’re going through and I decided I wanted to help. I’m a construction worker when I’m not here.”

Silence fell over them again and Tessa noticed that his breathing started to get faster. She glanced up at him and noticed how grim he looked in the dim light from his phone. Shit, he said he used to be here himself. 

“Not a fan of tight places?” she gently asked. 

He let out a shaky laugh, gulping heavily. “No, I never could quite get past that.” He cleared his throat and glanced at her. “At least the company is good.”

Tessa stared up at him in shock. Did he just compliment her? She felt her cheeks heat up and she tucked some stray hair behind her ear. Oh Maker, was this actually happening?

“Likewise,” she squeaked. 

Their eyes met again and he grinned bashfully this time, rubbing the back of his head. 

Hold on, did this mean he was interested in her?

Tessa bit her lip as she grinned. Well, it seems this day was turning out quite different than she planned.

* * *

Cullen couldn’t believe his luck. 

Of course he would get stuck in a bloody elevator first thing in the morning. And of course the new pretty nurse on the PTSD unit he visited was stuck with him. 

Cullen remembered the first time he saw her like yesterday. 

He had just walked in with the handouts he had for that day’s discussion and he glanced over at the window they gave meds out at and he froze. 

She was smiling at a patient as she chatted with them and handed the patient his pills. Her smile was so bright and kind. And her eyes were something else, and—

Cullen mentally stopped himself. She haunted his thoughts when he wasn’t at the unit and he had to concentrate as hard as he could to not stare when he saw her. 

There was no way he stood a chance. She was a nurse and he was a washed up former patient in the very ward she worked in. He knew there were rules around that and she probably would tell him so if he did make a move. 

He was doubting those thoughts now. 

The way she bit her lip as she looked up at him caused his whole body to heat up and his cheeks were still tingling from a blush. His sad excuse of a flirt seemed to work and everything he thought he knew was being questioned. 

The lights in the elevator suddenly flickered back on and started to move again and Cullen knew he had to act now if he wanted to take this chance. 

“Tessa?”

She looked up at him and his mind almost blanked when their eyes met. Maker, they were a gorgeous violet color. Her lips parted a little and Cullen had to force himself to keep his gaze from drifting there. 

“Yes?”

“Would you like to get coffee with me at lunch?”

Her eyes widened and her mouth went slack as a pretty blush darkened her cheeks. 

She composed herself and sent a beaming smile at him instead. 

Oh Maker, her smile was enough to send his heart racing. 

“I would love to. I usually get off around 12:30.”

She plucked a pen she had in her pocket and grabbed his hand. Cullen watched, speechless, as she wrote her number on his palm. 

“Just in case I get my break a little late,” she explained, biting her lip with a smile. 

Cullen nodded, dumbfounded. 

Holy shit, this really was happening. 

“O-Of course.”

The elevator finally stopped and Tessa hurried off, sending a smile at him over her shoulder before hurrying toward the unit. 

Cullen reminded himself to step off and he watched as she rushed into the unit. 

“Was she late?” he asked himself, standing in the hallway alone. 

He looked down at his palm and quickly punched her number into his phone. 

This was the best morning he had in a long time.


	12. Bye Bye Bye

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> \- I was walking past your house, you had your door open and I saw you dancing in your kitchen and now whenever I hear that song I think about you

Alistair didn’t know if it was fate that made him want to take a random walk out of nowhere. 

Usually, he would come home from work and immediately kick off his shoes and go about the rest of his night like anyone else would. For some unknown reason, though, he was restless this night. 

He had just made his way down the sidewalk, not really paying attention to anything around him. The sun was low in the sky when he finally stopped in his tracks as he heard NSYNC’s _Bye Bye Bye_ playing at full volume. 

Alistair looked toward where he heard the sweet sound of Justin Timberlake’s voice coming from and he was struck by the sight that greeted him. 

A young woman was washing her dog on her front lawn and she was singing along with the song. The way she tried to dance as she scrubbed her dog almost made Alistair laugh aloud. 

An awkward snort of a laugh escaped from him and that caused the woman to look up. 

It felt as if all of the breath was sucked out of his lungs when their eyes met. Maker, she was pretty. She grinned and gave him a wave before going back to washing her dog. 

Alistair stood on the sidewalk, dumbstruck, before he realized he should probably keep moving and avoid looking weird. 

He reached a crosswalk and turned back around to start walking back to his house, hoping to see the woman again. 

For once, his luck was good. She was still outside and cleaning up the shampoo bottle and hose she was using while her dog rolled around on the lawn. Spice Girls was playing this time around and she was holding the shampoo bottle like a microphone. 

Crud, he had to get away. 

Alistair basically powerwalked down the street until he reached his house so she wouldn’t see him.

* * *

Alistair decided that fate made him go for a walk that day, because he couldn’t get the woman out of his mind. 

He went to the sporting goods store he worked at the next day and Bye Bye Bye started playing sometime during his shift, making him think about how blue the woman’s eyes were. 

On his lunch break, _Wannabe_ by Spice Girls started to play and he thought he was going to go crazy thinking about her light brown hair and tan skin. 

He didn’t even know her name and the only thing he knew about her was that she lived in the same neighborhood in a bungalow similar to his own and she owned a dog. 

And she was short. 

Alistair thought about how short she was as he was hanging up women’s running tank tops. He had to stop. He was starting to sound like a creep even to himself. 

“Hi?”

Alistair looked over at the customer, getting ready to put on his ‘cheerful’ face but his heart almost stopped beating when he saw who it was. 

It was her.

Sweet Maker, it was her!

He almost dropped all of the tank tops he was holding. 

“Hi! Um, can I help you? Of course you’re looking for help or else you wouldn’t have talked to me. Not that I wouldn’t want to help I mean—and I’ll just stop talking now,” he babbled, wanting to punch himself. 

The woman smiled up at him and Alistair knew he was in trouble. She was shorter than he thought she was, barely making it up to his shoulder. Her light brown hair swayed as she tilted her head and looked at the tank tops he was holding. Maker, her eyes were so blue. 

“I was actually hoping you would hand me one of those. I can’t reach the place you’re hanging them and well,” she gestured to herself, shrugging. 

Alistair looked up at the rack he was hanging them on. Yeah, she never would have reached them. 

“W-What size?” he managed. 

“Medium.”

He handed her a medium top and his heart dropped as she turned to walk away. She didn’t recognize him. Or she was choosing to ignore the fact they saw each other yesterday. 

Suddenly, she stopped in her tracks and turned to face him. “You saw me singing NSYNC yesterday, didn’t you?”

Just like that, Alistair’s mood lifted. With his free hand, he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “Maybe.”

A soft blush appeared on her cheeks and she cleared her throat. “Well, that’s embarrassing,” she laughed. 

“No! It was cute.”

Alistair wished the floor would just swallow him or shoot him through the roof like in a cartoon. Why did he say that?!

The woman’s blush got darker and Alistair quickly backpedaled. “I’m sorry. That was stupid. I’ll just go back to hanging these up and you can just forget that I ever said that and—“

A soft hand on his arm made him shut up and he was surprised to see her smiling at him. 

Alistair had to stop his jaw from dropping as she pulled his phone out of his pocket and held it out to him. “Unlock it, please?”

He quickly did and handed it to her. 

He watched as she punched her phone number into his contacts and she handed his phone back to him. 

“Call me,” she basically ordered, winking at him before walking away. 

Alistair stared after her, finally forcing himself to look down to see what her name was. 

Eryn. 

He couldn’t wait until he got off work.


End file.
